OK, I am still a bit of a novice, but I find it hard to understand why people take such entrenched positions in this "debate"
I used to use film many years ago. Gradually I dumbed down from fully manual, then automatic SLRs and developing/printing my pictures to a little Olympus pocket compact film camera - for conveneince. I wnet digital a few years ago with an almost identical Olympus pocket compact digital camera which served me well.
Then last year I realised I wanted to take photographs again, to be creative, not just to take snaps. I went through a couple of cameras and a lot of money until I finally bought the Canon 5D and a few very nice lenses. I am delighted with the equipment I have and the 5D is about all I want in a camera. But discovering real photography again got me re-interested in film. I started experimenting with film SLRs again and then, more recently, collecting and trying to use old film cameras.
I have found the expereince very fullfilling. I realise what is both romantic and inspiring (as well as sometimes practical) about film. But I love my 5D and manipulating photos on the internet too. If I could only keep one camera it would be my 5D. And yet I get a buzz from going out with an old 1950's russian leica rangefinder copy and light meter in my coat pocet and taking black and white photos of objects or things I would otherwise ignore.
I think, or at leats hope, going back to film, using a fixed lens, being more sparing with my shots and having to learn more, particularly with manual cameras, about exposures, will help develop my photographic skills. I hope it will lead to both better film and digital results. But regardless of that, it is something I really enjoy to experiment with.
For me there should be no film v digital. They both have great strengths and some weaknesses. Advocates of both sides of the debate are right, but usually over polemical. If you can have the opportunity to use and experiment with both it can only be a good thing. I just hope that digital doesn't kill the film star.