one of the biggest annoyances I have about the removal of standing pilots from ranges, water heaters, and other gas appliances is that the machines cannot be operated without an electrical connection! The installation of a new gas appliance usually means that an electrical connection also must be run to the new appliance's installation location
Building electronic ignition systems that run off of batteries, or just building the device in such a way that it can be match-lit has not even been a consideration of the manufacturers.
In my neck of the woods, we get frequent thunderstorms during the summer, and ice storms during the winter, that take down the power lines. Electrical outages have become a commonplace around here, especially since most of the lines are run above ground.
In my parent's home, we had gas everything, stove, dryer, water heater, furnace, and even a few outside lights. The beauty of this stuff is that even when the electricity was out, we could still cook, take a hot shower, and even heat the house, becasue the old floor furnace did not require any electricity for fans, relays, or ignition systems. These new-fangled gas appliance will not allow that to happen. My mom cannot even light her new stove with a match if the power goes out!
The biggest, most annoying thing about gas appliances these days outside of the simple fact they do require electricity, is while they are more efficient in the amount of gas they may use, their electricity usage is going up. That is information NOT published on the energy-guide sticker on the front. One of the things I shop for in a new appliance is the energy consumption numbers. Not publishing the TOTAL energy consumption over all sources to me is misleading.