Faucets and their place in bitcoin

What good are faucets?

I've seen some debate about faucets lately that has sparked a question. As a faucet list owner I can't help but to feel that I am in some way subliminally biased towards thinking faucets are a good thing. I've been trying to speculate on the subject for some time now and can't help but wonder. Would I have ever gotten in to bitcoin without them? Without earning some free satoshi (and a very small sense of accomplishment) from faucets I can't honestly say that I would be here today. I feel that faucets are wonderful in their own way. Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong but, the value of bitcoin is determined by how much value we put in it. If only a few hundred people use bitcoin then it isn't very valuable because so little people find value in it. If hundreds of thousands or even millions of people use bitcoin then it is of more value because of the community that use it. So in turn the more people that use bitcoin the more valuable it is.

So it seems only logical to me that faucets are a valuable asset to bitcoin. If I were to tell a stranger that there is a digital currency that they should invest in because its popularity is growing and value is rising there is a slight possibility that they may become a part of the community. If I told that same stranger the same thing except instead of telling them to invest I was to tell them they could get some for free I would imagine the probability of them looking further into the subject would be greater. So it seems logical to offer faucets to attract new people to the community and allow them a chance to test the cryptocurrency waters without risk. In turn they may become a active part of bitcoin (like me) and help increase its value.

If all of this is true then why would anyone claim that faucets are a complete waste of time and, compel other users not to use them?

I do understand the fact that faucets are not profitable by theirself and, the amount of time it takes to get a whole bitcoin out of them would be extremely long. Still I can't help but think that they are a important stepping stone to inviting new people to the community.