Seems like this fits into the discussion of CV's in digital synthesizers, however briefly on-topic it was :)

Pd is *not* a technological parody by being able to do everything that a 30-year-old analog interface could do, because it does it better.  Hardware for running Pd to accomplish the same tasks can be smaller and less specialized.  There's lower noise, less distortion--things that would take a team of engineers several years to build with hardware would be programmable in Pd in less time.

A technological parody ought to be defined by:
1.  usage of high-tech hardware to fulfill a low-tech purpose
2.  an unwarranted degree of specialization or wasteful usage of hardware size/power

e.g. a wind controller shaped exactly like a clarinet, running off a DSP board, and all it does is sound exactly like a clarinet.  Why don't I just mic a clarinet?
Anybody else got one?

Chuck