[TimCraig]

I'm a mechanical engineer who spent most of his career doing software. You seem to be focusing on software in "embedded systems" where it's used mostly for control and operator interfaces. Control systems have always been important to mechanical systems. Early on they were mechanical in nature, for instance, the governor controlling the speed on a steam engine. Later, the controls move to electrical and then electronic. Now, the electronic has evolved into programmable microtrollers which allows for smaller, cheaper, and much more powerful control systems. It also allows for things to be distributed so that each of the components of a system is smart and then integrates into the system as a whole. Another thing modern controls add is greatly improved diagnostic capabilities.

For my two cents, the people who program embedded systems are the ones truly deserving the title "software engineer" in that most are engineers and follow engineering design practices. Most "software engineers" however are simply programmers who like the title because it sounds more important and have no clue about how engineering is done.