FACT:
* No matter how good your DT technique, brifters are easier to use - you'll shift them more often and experience less fatigue.
* DTs are a liability - whether you're a racer or commuter, having to take your hands off your bars to control the bike is at best inconvenient and at worst, dangerous. Not to mention somewhat oxymoronic.
* Yes, STIs kinda suck - they are stupidly complex, thus heavy and fragile, and the exposed cables most of em use look crap. However, Ergo levers are simple, robust and look badass. Doubletap is pretty much in between, except they're lighter and less expensive. Another however - even the slightly unreliable STIs are preferable to DTs for pretty much everyone except tourers, who usually prefer bar-ends anyway for some reason. (I suspect it's just a hangover from the days when it was DTs or bar-ends - tourers are prolly better off with Ergo.)
* Yes, brifters are associated with more hassle setting up indexing. But 10spd DTs are no better - the problem is that manufacturers aren't increasing cable travel to maintain accuracy; they prefer to maintain derailleur compatibility... this may be part of a campaign to push electronic shifting. 8 or 9spd Ergo is preferable on the basis that Campy uses wider spacing.
* STIs are actually rebuildable, for those of us with mad skillz.
IMO:
* The basic design of the road bike simply wasn't complete until brifters were devised - DTs scream 'half-arsed solution' to me. Any bike with DTs is plainly obsolete, like one without shift-gated cogs or brakes that can lock the front wheel.
* The extra weight on the bars is a bit of a bummer, but it's much easier to live with than having to take your hands off to shift. Also, you can counter this issue to some extent if you wanna get spendy. Or just wait until you're used to it; any change in feel tends to disappear over time.
* Brifters > bar-ends > DTs. Tourers prefer bar-ends for their extra reliability (over STI), and ability to be set to friction; fair enough. But the folks who prefer DTs are simply the very definition of 'retrogrouch'. The redeeming features of DTs just don't cut it.