IMHO analog augmentation is what makes these things special. In digital, the physical reality is sampled and an accurate measurement is calculated, then this m

IMHO analog augmentation is what makes these things special. In digital, the physical reality is sampled and an accurate measurement is calculated, then this measurement is presented to the user in any suitable form. The problem is, this divorces the user from the physical reality and it's up to the designer to create something that would give back the feeling of being close to the metal. With analog systems, the default is being close to the physical phenomenon. If the battery has strong enough potential difference it moves the needle. The fidelity is very high, although you loose on accuracy. For example, if you look at the analog voltmeter when you play music, you can observe how the voltage drops with the music frequency or volume which is something you can miss with the digital if the designers have chosen lower sampling rate or smooth out the variations to provide more accurate info on the battery charge. When this happens, you no longer build intuitive understanding of the physics.