I wonder if you have ever driven a Car without ABS. How about all drum brakes and no power?? Ever driven a car with no power steering, no power brakes, no A/C, no power windows, no disk brakes, no HP, No fuel injection, no alternator, no radial tires, no airbags, no catalytic converter, no PCV valve, no automatic Choke, no synchronizers on the tranny ? You probably haven't and will never know the pure mechanical connection one can have with a car. By the time you are independent of your parents, cars will be totally fly-by-wire and the driver will have no direct connection to the machinery he/she is operating.
ABS will increase braking distance in loose snow. Instead of snow building up in front of the wheel and helping you stop, the wheels keep turning on top of the snow and have less traction. Sand is similar, gravel is similar. ABS is better in most other circumstances. Cheap ABS has drawbacks too. My Sable would swerve badly when one side of the car had bad traction and one side good. IE: hard braking when right wheels were near shoulder (sand/debris) and left on good traction pavement. It nearly caused me to have an accident.
On hard braking in a sharp turn, the inside rear wheel would lift, engaging the ABS, and not allowing as fast a braking rate. The computer doesn't always do the right thing. The ABS for brakes is similar to ATX for transmissions. In most cases it shifts/brakes the way you want, but in some conditions, it chooses the wrong action. IMHO.
