SQL vs. traditional I/O?

["Bob Cagle" <bcagle@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Maybe I'm opening a bucket of worms here, but for straight RPG
programming on an AS400/iSeries/i5 machine, why should we use SQL
instead of traditional RPG I/O (read, chain, etc.)?  I have seen
multiple postings on these lists and several articles all saying we need
to switch to SQL now!  But, traditional I/O works great on the platform
it was intended for - the SQL implementations I have seen are 'clunky'
at best.

Note: I understand SQL has its place; web programming, etc.  I just
don't see the need to switch over 100% to SQL.  What am I missing?  Why
should I use an SQL select statement versus a simple chain to a logical
file?

Bob Cagle