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I think what makes a lot of people skeptical of their true worth is that in the peloton they seem to be imposed from above by manufacturers as opposed to genuinely seen as a desirable improvement from the riders. This and comedy stories of people wearing out three sets of pads at CX races has left me with a lasting 'pinch of salt' feeling when it comes to them-as much as setting up cantis can be a spiky stick to the scrotum sometimes.
Punter-wise I guess they're seen as an improvement just because apart from the industrial stopping action they're new and flashy and they're less likely to actually tinker with them or replace pads/rotors themselves. I guess the 'rims last foreva' aspect also ties in, though I suspect most folk buy a new bike before that ever happens anyway.
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Swings around roundabouts init. They make sense for punters. Punters want confidence and consistency. Not a whole lot of sense for pros - pros don't perform by slowing and stopping better and they stop fine - in most cases - because they have access to top quality brake calipers, pads and a limitless supply of rims and the mad-skills from riding bikes all day every day.
It's only where a rim brake is genuinely a bit scary - i.e. wet long mountain descent on carbon rims - that there's a clear case to the pro. It's good that they have access to them though if only for the limited cases where the disc is a clear winner.