Yes! It ought to be so much easier. It can't be that hard to write a module that gives an admin screen and lets you drag and drop all the menu items, and can then work out for itself what each item's weight should be without you needing to worry about it. I think the whole concept of the user having to pick a weight is silly when Drupal would be perfectly capable of maintaining a list order itself. I have no experience in making modules but if I can't find one already made I may have to give it a go :)