I'm willing to bet the number of people who really play the mileage game is incredibly small like .5% or less of Skymiles members. The vast majority earn miles and then when they see they have a fare bit they try to redeem for a trip. They aren't following redemption trends and blogs and the industry.

With new redemption options it's far more tempting to use some miles to upgrade their trip when they already have a flight they're about to take especially considering most people probably only fly once a year or even every other year.

Flyertalk people are on the extreme end of the bell curve for knowledge about flights and mileage, and are not at all a good barometer for the general public.