Bernard:"After more than a hundred years, things haven't changed much... with good reason! 'A bad workman blames his tools'!"

RE:Oh Dear! ,don't try that with me, it is the most common argument against progress all through history and merely a way escaping the threat from being confronted with novelties. You probably find it when speaking against any new tool anyone has introduced. A good workman may manage doing cameo carvings with an axe but probably prefer something else if knowing better.
How does it fit with your attitude that Charles Wheatstone suggested several other concertina variants than the "English"? and that his brother William, who actually was in charge of the production, very strongly criticized the 1844 typical 'English treble' concept and suggested modifications of the keyboard location and the handle?