Rollers are cooler, of course, but that's a comparatively recent development. I used a set of RollTrac rollers (I'll be amazed if anyone remembers those) from 1974 until the RacerMate came out in the early '80s, then ditched them. Figured out that 45 minutes doing intervals is far more beneficial than spinning at moderate effort.

Also figured out that rollers train you how to spin smoothly on rollers but are about as useful as a unicycle for road smoothness. Hot flash: if you can ride 50 feet on a bike without falling over, you can ride as smoothly as any roller fanatic if you so choose. Learning "smoothness" equals learning pack etiquette, not pedaling technique.