Yes, just like a lot of folks, I once had a Sealife Reefmaster. For snapshots it was acceptable. but I wanted better than that. When I tried to upgrade, I found out that none of the lenses or the strobe were usable on any other system so I had to start over. This is typical of the Sealife line. Since taking care of a better system was no different as far as o-ring care, batteries, etc. I moved up to S&S's MX-10, from there a full S&S MMIIexPro system and then to my current digital rig as soon as digital proved itself to me. Along the way I've used Nikonos cameras as well as housed SLR's and when everything is considered....money involved for lenses, ease of use, cost of maintenance and processing, justifying number of dive trips with cost of the system, etc., the Oly rig I have was the best choice for me. And I've been very satisfied with the results.
As for 'engineering problem out' I think the race to get acceptable digital systems on the market is a big cause of the problem. That and the customers that those cameras are aimed at want small size cameras and housing, pocketsize even. So Sealife, Canon, Sony, and a few others have given them what they want, with the problems that go along with it. When a camera goes with a bottle of defog, something tells me there's already a problem they have no answer to!