ORIGINAL: Silent-AV8R
I do not see them as the same thing. 2.4 SS is probably the best thing to happen to this hobby since servo reversing! It tangibly increased safety, eliminated the possibilities of being shot down and have significantly reduced losses due to interference. That is far different from knowing my RX pack voltage, exhaust gas temperature or in flight rpm.
Keep in mind that you can have in flight voltage and altitude and other parameters right now using the Eagle Tree and other systems. But I do not see people saying that it is an absolute must have. Now if the radio makers can include that feature at a reasonable cost, then more people may find it useful. But let's look 2 years down the road and see how many people are still using it on a regular basis.
Telemetry is a new gadget that is a value added feature, it is not an absolute requirement.
2.4ghz was never a must have, either. It made certain things easier, same as telemetry does. I don't need it, but my next radio (which is probably years away) will have it. Will it be something I'll use? You bet! The idea of being able to check my RX battery before flight without hooking up a voltmeter or having something hang off the airframe is nice. Most people don't check their voltages now, but make it dead-easy and most will.
I'm not overly curious about the how high/how fast or the more advanced applications, but some people sure will be. How many of us whine and complain about the hobby being "dumbed down?" About how kits have gone the way of the dodo, because of lazy ARFers? About how sims and parkflyers have lowered the cost of admission to the hobby? Well, here's something that might encourage some new ideas. Some new thinking about performance. It might interest some folks who like to collect data, tinker, and see if their tinkering had a positive outcome. That sounds great!
I have a hard time passionately begrudging telemetry. I'm at a loss as to explain why anyone would waste their breath talking it down, as though it's a bad thing. Maybe I just don't have the free time that others do.