I've had RED crap out on me a few times, which isn't fun on a 5+ hour flight. Even once in F, my seat didn't fully work (nor did the screen); my last flight RED shut down twice for some strange reason. Previous flight I had ordered 2 items & never got them.
Friend that used to work in VX HDQ said that RED has always had hiccups. Even on AA there's been some issues with seatback IFE.
But, bkojote, you forget to mention that VX also charged for each and every movie, unless in F/MCS. My first trip on VX, I was missing my Alaska digeplayer as I forked out $16 to keep me occupied. At least with the dige (which, I'll admit I've always gotten free), you get to watch everything for free, and can add a splitter to share audio with a seatmate. And then I spent another $25 in food/beverages on legacy VX. And speaking of food, Alaska at least has a hot option on most flights over 3 hours - Virgin's Y galley doesn't even have an oven. Also, FA's tend to suspend ordering anything 60-80 minutes before landing. Alaska typically will have another beverage service about an hour before landing on 4+ hour flights.
The F seat, as you mentioned, is amazing. But you know what's better? Knowing we have a better F seat than AA/DL/UA in a 737 - and the new seats will have foot rests and a bit more recline. The addition of premium cabin on the A320 fleet will be nice.
alaska used to have the small water bottles in Y; hopefully they come back.
So while the article is full of a lot of koolaid, we don't know the new combined First Class soft product yet. We should be finding out soon, as April 25th is quickly approaching.
VX was a great product 7 years ago. Problem is, many airlines have now adopted VX items or leaped them. Can you imagine where you'd be if JetBlue got Virgin? They don't have lounges or even First Class on all their planes!