I'm skeptical of the electric steering and brakes also, but I have to say, there are a lot of car manufacturers out there doing the electric steering well. My Audi and Volvo both have electric steering and the feel is quite good, though not as good as a hydraulic system IMO. I've driven a lot of newer cars with electric steering and it is definitely better than it used to be, but as I said, they are taking a lot of inputs from the vehicle (speed, braking, steering angle, ect ect) to manipulate the boosting to get a good road feel. I've never driven a car with electric brakes. Reading through the link Dave posted it seems they have the a lot of the safety concerns worked out, but I'm still skeptical.
Exactly. I have a feeling electric brakes would feel a lot like the early electric steering solutions. Numb and uncommunicative.