Hi SP,
to me, it’s not about knives at all. It’s about adapting and upgrading to changing times. Where I live, my prepping needs have changed drastically.
I think it’s really the same all over the world. My former student and colleague, Dr. H has had to not only face the changes that have happened to his prep work when he was in Japan, to becoming a Japanese-American.
The one knife that works for him is a santoku–but it has to be very special. I bought him a Shun dual core santoku which he loves because it fuses his Westernizing culture at home with his fusion culture here in SOCAL.
Choosing a knife is always a very personal decision, but when the tasks it performs are no longer needed, one needs to move on.
That’s what’s happened to my American butcher knife. I still love it, but it’s gone from being a star to being a “beater.”