I agree steaming wood is quick and has a fascination of its own, but methods tend to be driven by one's style, I think. I must admit I've never really given it much thought. My style tends to be one-off boats, no glass.

Mostly when I use bent wood in boat construction the part serves to define the shape of the boat, so it must have and hold precisely the right shape. That's a job for laminating or a built-up piece. My olde-time look ribbed canoe has laminated ribs and carved three-piece stems. They were made first and attached to a bottom plank (Adirondack Guideboat style) then strip-planked.

I could have built a mold, planked over it then steamed in the ribs. However this was a one-off: I dislike using wood once and tossing it, and it's hard to find a use for lots of carved up ply pieces although stringers can have an after-life. Of course if I was belting out multiple builds for a paying market my approach would be different: a few dozen boats with laminated ribs and strip-planking would create a lot of wood dust!

It seems to be that I don't need steaming often - it's not a good fit for my building style.