&gt; Introduce just one diode and the system of diff equations needs to be solved numerically<p>Not really. Maybe that&#x27;s why nobody invented anything with a diode in the signal path before computers were commonplace right? Like radio and guitar distortion pedals<p>&gt; Therefore there is no reason to even bother with Laplace transforms nowadays<p>Sure, let&#x27;s forget the math and make engineers totally dependent on numerical simulation without knowing the basics, I&#x27;m sure that&#x27;ll work just fine<p>&gt; For hobbyists (and the vast majority of professionals) I would consider it completely useless knowledge.<p>LOL<p>Sure, in the same way that sorting algorithms don&#x27;t are useless for computer science students, right? Just call .sort() and you&#x27;re done!<p>Also don&#x27;t forget Digital Signal Processing, that also relies on that &quot;useless knowledge&quot;