[Rurouni]

Thats quite the quandry you have there. Its a good topic to think about as well, seeing how technologies are rapidly advancing due to computers and software.

As a Software Engineering student at Clarkson, I'll throw in my two cents. The truth of the matter is this, there is no true way to tell. Software engineering is not a concrete process, it is still highly evolving. In fact, there is a saying 'Bridges collapse less frequently than operating systems' (and no this is not refering to Mircosoft. It's actually well-known in software circles)

Software systems cannot be modeled in the same way as mechanical systems. One way to put this is as follows: mechanical systems can be mathematically modeled using different forms of calculus, depending on what you are designing. Software systems are mathematically modeled using discrete steps, which is actually a large difference between the two conceptually.

One thing to keep in mind that there is a sort of hierarchy in this regard:

Software -> hardware -> eletrical -> mechanical or vice versa depending on the way you see it. (Yes, this is overly simplified)

the software and hardware need to know how to send the various electrical signals in order to do what needs to be done mechanically. (i.e. A C program cannot tell a drivetrain how to move without some sort of intermediary.)

So is there really a way to tell which will be more important in the future? I highly doubt it since the computer age is still going strong and growing at a phenomenal rate. However, part of what makes engineering is taking an existing concept and improving upon it, something that mechanical engineers have been doing for a far longer time and thus by now are pretty darn good at it.

I highly recommend you keep pursuing this topic and if you don't mind I'd like a copy of it when you're done with it.