asbestos != cancer

asbestos != cancer

Yes, asbestos can cause lung cancer. But I don't think that was the point being made.

Asbestos was widely used at one time because it was cheap, easy to install, offered something of value (fireproofing), and was believed to be safe. Things like asbestos "safety" curtains solved a real problem in an era of literal limelights and wood construction without fire retardants.

But after a few generations we realized that asbestos was just as dangerous as the problems it solved... and it was now extremely expensive to remove because asbestos had been added to so many different products, often just for marketing purposes.

I think that was the point the author was making. .Net might seem cheap and good enough today, but in a few years you'll find it insufficient, far too costly, and expensive to remove because you'll quietly add other .Net products over time because you'll naturally want to maximize compatibility, even if there's no need for the applications to talk to each other.