> I think that PID hits a certain sweet spot between cleverness, ease of implementation and practical utility that makes it catnip for the typical programmer's mind.

It's easy to implement, but hard to tune.

PID controllers can be built from analog pneumatic components, and often are.[1] This predates computer control. The I term is called "Reset" and the D term is called "Rate" in classical control.

[1] https://control.com/textbook/closed-loop-control/pneumatic-p...