I don't drink the bean juice personally, so I've got no skin in the game. To me it definitely seems like a drip coffee maker could make a cup of Joe just about as good as most other methods. I do think it's a combination of the burner burning the coffee after and also a coolness factor (that's how my parents did it, gross!) that drives a lot of the hipness of alternative brewing methods in the US.

But as mentioned I don't really have a horse in this race to begin with. Drink what makes you happy however you brew it. :)