For instance, methods only exist on classes. And there's no mention of the singleton class whatsoever.
For a more accurate lesson, watch Dave Thomas, author of the "Pickaxe" Programming Ruby book, present on the Ruby Object Model: http://scotland-on-rails.s3.amazonaws.com/2A04_DaveThomas-SO...
I understand that at a first glance this looks like basic stuff that doesn't explain anything useful, but with a bit more experience you'll see that it's fundamental to understanding how Ruby will react in certain situations.
I'm not sure because I don't really talk to those folks.
As far as bleeding edge web development is concerned, Ruby has been a serious tool for the past 7 years, not sure where you've been.
Anyway, what would you gain from asking a bunch of Ruby developers whether Ruby is "just a fad"? This is hardly the best venue for that question.
Incidentally, I didn't downvote you, just thought I'd try to explain why nobody responded to you.
Posting an inflammatory response in tandem with a question already loaded with rhetoric ("fad", "serious tool") isn't going to spur interesting or valuable debate because you've shown you're already cemented into your position before you even started.
Though I have no personal evidence for any of that ;) - I have never used Ruby, I don't know anybody in real life that does, and in fact aside from three or four mentions-in-passing I have never heard anybody even talk about it. Different worlds, I guess.
EDIT: Why am I reading a Ruby article, then? That's easy... just avoiding a bit of work. Maybe I'd find that it had done something interesting.
It read like you were just trying to make waves around the subject just for the sake of it.
