sittingduck wrote:
The reason climbers try to "invent the wheel" may be that different authorities have different best practices.
You for instance, are saying that it is unfortunate that auto-block devices are the norm nowadays. Other authorities, like Petzl and BD to name a few, seems to think they are great best practices.
In the eye of the beginner it may look like no one knows the best practice. This may lead to confusion, and the logical assumption that the best practice is yet to be invented.