To be fair, there's always an obverse to any opinion and I'm one personally for alloy wheels. Not because they are 'trendy', but because I like the look of them over standard steel wheels. I don't wish to sound rude by saying it, but only the entry level vehicles these days tend to come with steel wheels as stock from the factory. There's nothing wrong with this, you do at the end of the day, get what you pay for, and if you don't need or require a higher level spec of vehicle, then it makes perfect sense to dispense with them.
The only vehicles in the last 25 years that I've owned which didn't come with alloy wheels as stock, were a Volvo 440 and a Nissan Primera, all of the other cars I bought came with alloy wheels. As far as damaging them is concerned, yes, I agree, there is always the chance you can damage one, but in my own experience, I've only ever kerbed one alloy wheel, at a service station on the A34 in driving rain and almost pitch black conditions at 2am. I was so angry with myself, but I sucked it up and got it repaired professionally. However, in terms of every day driving, neither I or my wife kerb the wheels. In fact, it utterley baffles me when I see some folks alloy wheels that have been kerbed multiple times. To me, that just indicates a complete lack of care when parking, probably someone who is totally unware of the width of their vehicle, or folks who simply don't care.
I'm currently wearing 16 inch alloy wheels on my Saab 9-3, still on Extra Load winter tyres because of the ridiculously low temperatures we've been suffering lately for the time of year. Believe me, the ride is quite hard on those if you're not used to it. I am however today, swapping back to my 17 inch alloy wheels with Uniroyal Rainsport 3's, again Extra Load rating and on the firm side.
I think the alloy wheels on the wife's i10 look just fine, just very small at 14 inches! It's just a shame we had to go through all of that nonsense with the previous set being damaged due to the use of hammer on weights, but Hyundai replaced them under warranty and so all is now well.