Although I like most fish, I like water for tea the most in my kettles.
I think what a lot of beginners ask is whether this martial art can actually be applied in real life, or whether it's really nothing more than a dance. Personally, hearing experiences from people that have used aikido in actual situations has eased my mind somewhat about this question. What also helped was hearing people say things that make sense for me, like "what matters the most is how calm you are in the situation and that you don't panic." Of course, if I really wanted to learn to be martially effective, know how to tear apart another human being, then I'd go somewhere to get combat training, and maybe engage in anything goes competitions. But I'm not training to maim others to protect myself.
What I think is more pointless is arguing whether kung fu, aikido, or some other martial art, is better to train in. But discussing advantages and disadvantages of certain arts isn't so bad, because it isn't saying "this art is intrinsically better than that one."
Personally, aikido seems to fit my temperment the best (I just love it), although I sometimes do like the idea of training in something like crane kung fu.