This argument rings true and has been in the back of my mind for quite a while. To take this into a different context... for example if you were building a house per se.
Houses were built out of wood for years (and still is), but we slowly built tools to make it easier (Hand held saws, levels, nail guns). Now a new material has hit the market... plastic (for instance) and it is a better and more pliable medium to build a home, but we lack the tools to make it easier. It is as though we have no hand tools that will cut through it, or no nail gun that will penetrate it. Yes, it (Ruby) seems to be a better material to have a structure built with, but when you are building a lot of homes or even a mansion, it seems silly to use a material that limits what you can do to manipulate it. The argument that "Ruby is so cool, I don't need tools" seems quite silly and misguided. That may be OK if you are building treehouse in your back yard, but if you are building an entire housing district, you are going to lose money in the development costs.
The best quality, long term lowest cost roofing material is copper. But we use asphalt shingles, which are short-lived and expensive in the long term. Why? Because they're cheap in the short run, they require little expertise to install, and they're easy to customize.
Houses were built out of wood for years (and still is), but we slowly built tools to make it easier (Hand held saws, levels, nail guns). Now a new material has hit the market... plastic (for instance) and it is a better and more pliable medium to build a home, but we lack the tools to make it easier. It is as though we have no hand tools that will cut through it, or no nail gun that will penetrate it. Yes, it (Ruby) seems to be a better material to have a structure built with, but when you are building a lot of homes or even a mansion, it seems silly to use a material that limits what you can do to manipulate it. The argument that "Ruby is so cool, I don't need tools" seems quite silly and misguided. That may be OK if you are building treehouse in your back yard, but if you are building an entire housing district, you are going to lose money in the development costs.