I read O’Neill’s book when it came out. His cylinder habitations in space were doable in concept, but they would have taken many years of development and sustainment at a prohibitive cost with no clear economic value when accomplished. I believe that continues to be so. For all the promotion by NASA, the ISS is of at best negligible economic value.
I also read it. It depends on what you wish to accomplish. The ISS,was economical, but did very little and you couldn’t live there without severe long-term health hazards.
The O’Neill habitat was designed to actually live and thrive permanently in Earth orbit. It’s like comparing a pup tent with Mara Lago on military steroids. It would allow us to figure out how to get further into our own solar system and perhaps even plan generational ships to another (in time).
We’re gonna have to agree to disagree on this one.