Going philosophical (and I do this a lot), it's really about exploration of the solutions space. I think the whole profession has moved a step forward and we need metaphors, tools and architectures for systems where one computer (regardless of the number of CPUs or architecture) is just a component in our systems. Functional programming (not Functional design, think Map/Reduce) is a late attempt to improve on a "semi-solved" problem: to produce high quality systems that run inside a unique computer. Late attempts always can contribute, but they only offer some negligible benefits that doesn't balance properly with the added complexity (in technology or training... the famous learning curve). These attempts will always be welcome and will improve some layers on the systems we design, it's just that as move forward the benefits will go into a diminished returns dynamic.