Not everyone in the "P&R Generation" is off-putted by the newer S&Ws. Even if not so much to look at (in our eyes), quite a few of us acknowledge that they can be pretty fine shooting machines. I probably wouldn't spend $5000 engraving one of them, but I wouldn't hesitate to stop and look at one that had been.
If my eyes were a little sharper I might have a small fleet of these new models. S&W is making revolvers in configurations us "more experienced" shooters only could have dreamed about when we were young whippersnappers. I think that's great, and I like them all - old and new. "Classical music" was once "pop music", right?