When ASCE 7-98 came out (either the first really stinky wind provisions or the first to be adopted by IBC), I went to a seminar by the late James Delahay on wind loads. I posed the exact question that everyone in this thread is asking, "Why do we need an overly complicated wind code when UBC had one page on wind and everything is working just fine?"
His answer was that even though the earlier codes were adequate, we now know more about corners, eoverhangs, etc. and we need to implement this knowledge. His next statement was that since everyone has access to computers now, more complicated and refined analysis could be performed.
Anyway, that's the mindset of the guys and gals that write codes. Accuracy is more important the ease of use. Get a bigger computer.