It's just a matter of the right tool for the job, btown. The word 'superior' gets misused.
For mowing, snowblowing, and tiller work; the HST is the right tool. It'll give you infinite control of groundspeed while keeping PTO speed constant at the optimum for your implement. Think of groundspeed as the rate at which work is fed to the implement; infinite control of work feed rate can't be beat.
For loader work in close quarters or with lots of reptetition, the HST is also the right tool. Reversing is effortless and precise control of movement is easy. You can do these things with gear but it's more difficult and more prone to error.
For ground engagement bull work; gear is the right tool. Plowing, discing, skidding logs, and grading all require raw pulling power; and that's delivered most efficiently with gears. Also, gears make sense for open field work, such as raking hay, where tractor speed is held constant over long stretches.
HST is not strictly a convenience feature like an automatic transmission in a car. For constant speed open field work, the gear tractor is actually more convenient....no need to hold your foot on the hydro pedal or juggle throttle and cruise control settings; just set the throttle and go. HST is simply the best way to do SOME jobs; on others it isn't. So choose wisely. It's not a matter of "I hate to shift and I've always driven an automatic; therefore I'll get HST on my tractor.".
Ideally we'd all have two CUTs in the barn; one HST and one gear. Practically we get the transmission that best serves our purpose MOST of the time and make do with it the rest of the time.
FWIW
Bob