I definitely think it is. However “old” and “boring” are not precise terms. Perhaps a more accurate way to define the rule would be: “Prefer the oldest, battle proven, known to the team tech that can do the job.” For example if long polling and WebSockets are both capable of doing what you need to get done then pick long polling. Because it is older, more used, proven, used by many web applications out there, compatible with everything on the planet, and known to the team.
