The problem with alternative query languages is that the people who have the most knowledge about creating queries and of the relational domains underlying their businesses are all experts in SQL. Introducing something else, then, means your most natural user base must migrate away from something they understand how to use well, and that's a hard sell.

So, until the ultimate query language is developed, I'll take SQL with pipes. It's an easy sell and good enough to eliminate 90% of my gripes about SQL.

This is exactly the same problem facing people trying to develop new music notations. In order to grasp the domain enough, they have to be experts in the existing music notation, and once you're an expert in it, the motivation to create something new goes away. From what I've seen, the people who want a new music notation are mostly people uncomfortable with sight reading.

Exactly, we all know the merits of Esperanto, but few have switched away from English.

For example, Elastic. Much extra learning curve for little obvious gain.

I like to say, with zero research basis, that the New Shiny has to be an order of magnitude better than the Old Thing for people to say "Oh yeah, I gotta have that."