As I already mentioned, the board wasn't wood, it was one of those you piece together after breaking it (another sign of a Mcdojo).
My dojo has a few of those rebreakable boards. The kids use them most often. Some beginner adults (or at least adults who haven't broken before) use them too.
Why do we have them? They're cheaper than wood in the long run, and they're more convenient.
We don't do a lot of breaking, so it's not like we've got stacks of boards just laying around waiting to get hit. Most of the time when we break (I've done it twice in the 2 and a half years I've been there), it's on a whim by the instructor. The kids hit them far more often, but it's still easily sporadic. It's a "anyone want to break tonight?" kind of thing with the adults, and a "here, punch through this" kind of thing when the teacher is trying to reinforce proper technique with the kids.
Boards are a pain in the butt. You've got to go out and buy them, cut them, bring them to the dojo, etc. Then they just sit there, taking up space. If it's part of the curriculum and you're planning ahead, or it's just a routine thing, it's not much of a hassle. When it's an afterthought, it's a hassle.
Buying boards isn't too expensive, but it adds up. Buying precut ones is far more expensive per break, and that adds up too, especially if it's not an important part of the program.
I've hit them a few times. Didn't feel McDojo to me. My dojo has them. My dojo doesn't feel McDojo to me.
We have 5 or 6 of them. Some are easier than a single board, some are a lot harder than a single board. And everything in between.
A time and place for everything. To be honest, I'd rather hit the rebreakable boards. Why? I feel guilty when I break $20 worth of boards in a single evening. I always feel like breaking boards is a waste of money after you've done it once or twice and proved to yourself that you can do it and it's no big deal.
