I think that having a triple is fine if you ride terrain that needs it. Sometimes a double can get you almost the same gearing as a triple depending on the setup.

Better to have the gearing you need for the slope you are on than trying to "be a man" and mash it up the hills with the wrong gearing - that's just dumb and a long term loss IMHO when your knees eventually go to hell - so much for cycling in your older years...

Same goes for cassettes... I have some widely spaced ones for riding mountains but also some closer spaced road cassettes for riding where I know there won't be too many hills.