hahahaha.....we've had about the same discussion about 10 years ago in a photogroup:
Is a digital photo real or is it only real when you make a photo with an analog camera and develop and print it yourself...... We all know the outcome by now!!!!
For handquilting you need skills, but for machinequilting you need skills also.
It makes you finish a quilt much faster but stilln it takes a lot of time and effort.
I really appriciate both ways