Try playing some vintage Zils and I think you will get it ... not to say that the new stuff is in any way bad.
They're like Fender, or Gibson, or Ludwig and Gretsch, Harley Davidson, Ford, etc.,... They were there first and established the market. They met the needs of everyone at the time and really dominated. When I was younger, your only choice was either Zildjian or Paiste, and even then, Paiste didn't have the American market as much as Zildjian did. Over time, Paiste came on strong, and Sabian too (which is actually related to the Zildjian family, and was even kept out of the American market for a time by Zildjian too), and then Meinl. Only in recent years have we seen this explosion of "Turkish Cymbals" from independent companies - who I suspect are getting all of their cymbals from one place in Turkey (that statement's probably not true - but it sure feels like that when you go to the NAMM show and see so many vendors hawking their "Turkish" cymbals).
Apparently, Zildjian could've stayed to what they always made, but they too, do research and development and come out with new models or improvements to old ones. I love my Zildjians, but have played others. But considering I've been playing Zildjians for most of my life (35+ years) I don't need to change. You younger folks have much more choices these days.
It seems to me that not everyone loves Zildjian. Their market share has dropped considerably in recent decades with the rise of Sabian, Meinl, and various Turkish makers.
Like Bo, I remember being a new drummer back in the early '80s and there were pretty much only Zildjian As (no Ks in wide distribution yet) and Paistes (2oo2s, Rudes, and a few Forula 602s, but no Signatures) in the music stores. I remember when Sabian was launched and it took me right up to recent years until I starting really appreciating their offerings.
I've never put too much stock in the machine vs hand hammered aspects as not everything hand made suits what I like to hear and a lot of what we get led to believe as being hand hammered really isn't (all Ks, HH, HHX, for example). But even the machine made cymbals are still lathed by hand (only exception being the Xs20 line that I can think of), and lathing is huge when it comes to how a cymbal sounds in the end as it's responsible for the thickness profile from bell to edge of bow.
I think why a lot of drummers still like Zildjian (including me) is the sound that results from the processes they use, despite that it's a machine doing most of the work (rolling, pressing into shape, and hammering).
I'm not sure what you're basing this assertion on, but consider that most drummers that go the truly hand-hammered route are lighter-duty drummers who aren't typically associated with those that crack cymbals. Only exceptions that come to mind would be Carmine and Vinnie Appice. I'd be surprised if they haven't cracked more than a few.Hand hammered cymbals usually last longer.
I have heard a lot of complaints about Zildjian and how their products aren't up to snuff.
Why does everyone want/play them?
I'm not sure what you're basing this assertion on, but consider that most drummers that go the truly hand-hammered route are lighter-duty drummers who aren't typically associated with those that crack cymbals. Only exceptions that come to mind would be Carmine and Vinnie Appice. I'd be surprised if they haven't cracked more than a few.
I've had dozens of cymbals from Zildjian, Sabian, and Paiste. The only cymbals I haven't broken were the Sabians, but that has more to do with me favoring my Zildjians to the exclusion of the Sabians and I've never kept one long enough to crack it - they just get sold.
But I'm that'll change since I've been favoring my AAX and HHX Xplosion crashes lately and have been beating the hell out of them. FWIW, the HHXs aren't hand hammered either (but still sound great to my ears).
It's a well established fact here on Drummerworld that Zildjian are junk......just like Remo heads and Ludwig strainers. No need to question any of it sight unseen. I know it's true because I read it on the internet