Progress? They are cumbersome and heavy, and maybe some cooks don’t like that. Teflon coated cookware is fine when new, but they don’t last.
Cornbread made in iron cannot be replicated any other way.
I have a double burner griddle, round skillets, several dutch ovens, and a rectangular skillet.
If you do bacon in them, a cast iron bacon press helps a lot.
The best food I ever ate (besides plain old pure corn fed beef prime rib in an Iowa farmer’s home) was pizza at UNO’s in mid 1960’s in Chicago, baked in a cast cast iron skillet. They actually served sizzling hot at the table in the C.I. baking pan.
That said, for every day convenience, I prefer a good quality Copper pan. Even after many months of daily use, it retains it’s non-stick qualities because I do not clean it in sink with soap & water. Just clean it with lightly oiled paper towel. It is a snap. And the copper pans are so pretty and do not rust.