I love a true inboard with a nice thick shaft going through a small penetration in the hull (that can be filled with a nerf football in a pinch). I love inboard jet boats and prefer them to outboards on boats greater than 20'.
I hate the whole idea of i/o for so many reasons. First, the number of moving parts, second, the fact that the drive shaft makes two right angle turns, third, the giant hole in the transom, fourth, the difficulty doing any service to the outdrive while on the water, etc etc etc.
I've had one boat with an i/o for purely pleasure and it was fine. I would never work one. That said, I have a volvo diesel i/o in my work fleet, and it performs very well. I do have a brand new spare outdrive that matches the existing unit awaiting it's turn, and that helps, as well as having a reliable shop to work on it. The majority of the commercial boats around here (mostly high-speed commercial gillnetters) have them too.
I do know people who have lost boats they would still have if powered by outboards. There is really nothing to do when you lose an outdrive, or one even gets knocked loose. Your boat is likely going down. BUT, I can't say I've had any problems with them, or issues beyond what I have with other setups. I just seem to have a bias, and it absolutely causes me to be less comfortable when running my i/o work boat. I should probably think about that.
