I've got a bunch of iSticks and other VV/VW mods and just bought an Invader Mini, DNA40 clone. To me TC is still in its infancy and there is a ways to go before it really starts to shine. I will say I have no problems working with 30 gauge Ni200 at all and wicking it with rayon. The coil life seems to be fairly extended because overheating, and the gunking that produces, is limited or even eliminated. I do like the iSticks, ipv and other VV/VW stuff, but the Invader has become sort of my main device, especially when out and about.
As far as temp control in Kanthal or nichrome, I'll believe it when I see it. While I am not saying it can't be done, it does require a level of resolution and accuracy far beyond what is available in "garden variety" electronics. Ni200 and titanium vary resistance in terms of tenths and hundredths of an ohm over a range of a couple of hundred degrees. Kanthal and nichrome vary thousandths and ten thousandths over that same range, which is what they were engineered to do to provide good heating elements. Unless some means of monitoring temperature is built in as a separate sensor, and connected to the board separately, it's going to be extremely difficult to do. Connecting a separate sensor would mean the 510 connector has to go, just for starters and then it starts to get very proprietary based on the choices made by each manufacturer.
As far as temp control in Kanthal or nichrome, I'll believe it when I see it. While I am not saying it can't be done, it does require a level of resolution and accuracy far beyond what is available in "garden variety" electronics. Ni200 and titanium vary resistance in terms of tenths and hundredths of an ohm over a range of a couple of hundred degrees. Kanthal and nichrome vary thousandths and ten thousandths over that same range, which is what they were engineered to do to provide good heating elements. Unless some means of monitoring temperature is built in as a separate sensor, and connected to the board separately, it's going to be extremely difficult to do. Connecting a separate sensor would mean the 510 connector has to go, just for starters and then it starts to get very proprietary based on the choices made by each manufacturer.