cyccommute 

You are making the mistake of assuming that rim brakes are not disc brakes. Converting drum brakes on cars to disc brakes was a great improvement. Hub mounted disc brakes are just making the “disc” smaller. A rim brake works exactly the same way as a hub mounted disc brake…they just have a much larger rotor.

As to rim wearing out, yes, it happens. It’s not a big a problem as many people make it out to be. I’ve had many more rims crack at the spoke holes than I’ve had wear out due to brake wear.