A C172, F172XP or C172RG perform nothing like a modern LSA aircraft, the knowledge attained by Beech, Mooney and Flottorp was lost. Cessna and Piper didn't evolve into much.
I believe the developments by Airmaster, Pipistrel, Risen and many others have aviation evolution back on course. My opinion is that ground adjustable prop provides simply a choice.
The auto transmission in my car has been improved over the last 40 years, firstly with hydraulics and recently with electronics. I feel that should happen with aircraft transmissions.