However,,,,,,,,,,,,,we see next to no failures of trans control modules inside the transmission, or ECM's mounted in the engine compartment or right on the engine itself in some cases. I can count on one hand the number of ECM's I've had to replace because of a failure in the past 20 years and even fewer TCM's. A lot of vehicles, especially trucks, have the ABS module (and of course hydraulic control unit it's attached to) underneath on the frame rail down in the slop. What I'm getting at is they've solved all the problems of a computer and heat/cold, dry/wet, vibrations and the problems they used to cause, etc.....Some vehicles had the TCM inside the trans 20 years ago or more already and I really don't recall any problems with them.
It's come a long ways since the early 1960's that way. My dad told me about the first computer the company he worked for (electrical engineer) got in 1962. Took up a whole room, did upwards of 10 calculations a second and had to be kept in a climate controlled environment of no less than 60 degrees and no more than 65 degrees, LOL.
You guys talk down about computer controls on cars but how else do you get a car that runs a 12 second 1/4 mile off the showroom floor, can be driven daily in traffic, pulls down 30 mpg on the highway and puts out exhaust so clean you can darn near breathe it. Without computer controls it'd be impossible.
Maybe because I've been working on cars for a living for over 30 years, I've got a different perspective? I'd really, honestly rather diagnose and repair a driveability concern on a 2012 vehicle than the one's I started out on from the late '70's and into the early '80s (I know, I know, the exact years of cars we are into).
Oh well, off the soapbox now.