I detest that sentiment. The brake handles I had to use sooner or later were too soft, no matter the maintenance. So, I started to pull as strong as possible because otherwise the cars weren't standing still on steep hills -- I never had that issue with electric parking brakes; I love that.
My problem with the EPB is that it seems to encourage drivers to simply not use it. The convenience of a zero effort digital switch disconnects the user from the physical reality of the vehicle's heft.
I've had to instruct several family members and friends to engage their parking brake when on my very steep driveway. We had to shove a car up the hill to get it out of park one time. Leaving 2 tons of car resting entirely on the parking pawl can cause trouble. I always lecture drivers to let the brake take the load before putting transmission into park (or a low gear). It can be challenging to do this with digital everything.
Mine (Civic '19) applies it if your seatbelt is fastened when you turn off the motor. Otherwise it doesn't.
I think there's a "don't do automatic stuff unless the driver is wearing their seatbelt" rule.
Cables need replacement sometimes but I prefer the manual ones. It's really useful for turning in winter, it's fun and I trust it a lot more as an emergency brake. I've tried a Model 3 ebrake in motion once at 30-40 kmh and it locked up the rear instantly. Manual ones I can regulate so they don't lock or even let go a little if they do since they're not a button.
You should be able to make a mechanical parking brake as tight as you want, although I wouldn't put it past manufacturers to make the parking brake cable have fixed ends which would make tightening them impossible except by replacing the cable which will just stretch again after use, hence why they should be adjustable to start with.
The real magic/genius are trailer brakes, they are electric right, however if they worked the way you would naively assume an electric brake would work, directly operating on the friction surface with an electric solenoid, It would take a huge solenoid and the amperage requirements would quickly exceed what the trailer wiring can provide. so what they do is apply an electromagnet which starts to drag on the side of rotating wheel assembly it uses this drag to push the friction surfaces together, so it takes a surprisingly small magnet to run. most of the force comes from the rotating wheel.
I detest that sentiment. The brake handles I had to use sooner or later were too soft, no matter the maintenance. So, I started to pull as strong as possible because otherwise the cars weren't standing still on steep hills -- I never had that issue with electric parking brakes; I love that.