Asphalt shingles are/were popular because they they are super cheap, pretty hard to fuck up the installation since they soften and half meld together in the sun

Asphalt shingles are/were popular because they they are super cheap, pretty hard to fuck up the installation since they soften and half meld together in the sun, and isn't usually that big of a deal if they are damaged by hail or tornadoes again because they are cheap to replace or shingle over. Also easy enough for any random joe blow to install. Steel is becoming more popular these days though because it has gotten way cheaper while asphalt shingles have gotten a bit more expensive. But like 30+ years a steel versus asphalt roof was a huge step up in cost, and 50 years ago the paint on steel wasn't as good as it is today and could fail and start rusting within the time frame that a quality shingle roof would. You don't see rusted steel roofing very often any more though because most of that failed and was replaced 20 years ago or so. If you can afford it though steel is definitely the way better deal today, provided you aren't doing your own roof and are tearing it down to the wood instead of just shingling over the old stuff.