As pellet grills exploded in popularity over the past five or so years, they attracted consumers that liked the ease of use and convenience of automatic temperature control. They also made smoking meat less intimidating to people with guided recipes.
We’ve since seen digital temperature control come to other types of smokers. Masterbuilt and Oklahoma Joe’s both have digitally controlled charcoal smokers, and on the Kamado front, Kamado Joe released the Konnected Joe.