Oi... whos a nerd 
I buy the nibs purely for looks and snobery value Phil. Most wouldn't know the difference in any nib and the cheap chinese nibs as supplied look good and work fine. The fountain pen collectors and pens I push with uprated nibs will sell with Bock nibs and then it comes down to what the collector wants or looks for the people that don't know better.
I agree that gold nibs will run in better and become an individual item and that is firmly set in my mind but I only think of that with the pure gold ones that cost an arm and a let.
I would buy platinum nibs over steel depending on the price of course.