I like the lightning plug. I just have three problems with it:

1- Proprietary
2- Expensive (but I grant it's for good reasons)
3- It's not as well supported by Apple themselves

That last one is the one I find most frustrating. My wife loved having a dock for all her previous iPhones. Every time she upgraded her phone, she'd immediately buy the adapter for the universal dock. Even when she'd buy a case she would be swayed by manufacturers who supplied universal dock adapters for their cases.

But now there are no docks. Correction: there are no good docks. Apple doesn't make one, and most of the ones I see on the market are either pieces of plastic that route a lightning cable through it, or they're built into some speaker or alarm clock.

I can understand the inherent difficulty in making a dock (different case sizes, making sure the connection is safe), but I would think that if anyone could do it it would be Apple...

I guess docks aren't that popular. I'm not sure why not, as someone who uses their phone as an alarm clock and has no landline, I love them...