Spoke to someone at beach here ( i am in aussie now) and they were like - the shop told me switch kites r rubbish, Marc Jacobs who's that? lol
Anyway I had a quiver of switch kites for 2-3 years - they took some abuse that is for sure. They were awesome. If anyone is encouraging youth in kiteboarding they should consider supporting switch because cost is major factor for not letting youth get into kiting.
I would go as far to say that the average age of kiters has actually gone up in the last few years fueled by increased costs of specialized equipment / kiting disciplines and due to the ease of riding modern kites for older riders.
I can see the emergence of the soul kiter the way things are going - non specialized minimal, simple, inexpensive kit... with beards - the simple life.