A new bike would have to have two characteristics besides steel construction for me to take a serious look at it:

1. horizontal top tube
2. curved fork

Not that I rule out titanium, but I doubt I'll see that at my price point.
Other funky modern style devices that I could do without are components that can be changed, so they wouldn't be deal breakers:

1. compound bent drop bars
2. brifters (ok, not a style device, but they're ugly)
3. angled stem extension (horizontal looks "right" to me and allows lower bar height)