The "total alkalinity" test is just that; not a "carbonate alkalinity" test. In water treatment, "alkalinity" is a measure of a solution's resistance to pH change, over a specific range. As long as it's not massively high or zero, a non-ideal alkalinity is not a crisis.

Regarding electronic testing . . . until there are major advances in the part of the test that gets wet, those tests have little value to most pool owners. They are used in labs, because they are potentially very, very accurate, but achieving that accuracy requires frequent and complicated calibration to match the electronics to the signals. If you think messing around with a drop-based (titration) test kit is a pain, you ought to try double buffer electrode and temperature calibration, or maintaining and calibrating against other lab-standard solutions.