The problem with this is that you expect tech in the Star Wars universe to echo the tech in our universe. First, of course, is that Star Wars is science fantasy, and second, why should technology progress through the same pathways ours have taken? Tech in Star Wars isn't explained, it just is, and it fits the world George Lucas created and the story he wanted to tell. Space fighters fly the way they do because WWII fighters fly the way they do; autopilots don't work because they weren't a thing in the Saturday afternoon serials of the era Lucas grew up in and was trying to emulate on screen.

It is a weird mix, but the best thing to do is just leave any desire for realistic physics or Terran historic progress at the box office.