Still out there
Plain ftp maybe that is declining but I still do a lot of transfers using it along with sftp or similar protocols. Most hosting companies still use it to upload websites and it is a lot faster than smb.
Mind you saying it is unnecessary is a bit like having to install the telnet client on a windows box. Try troubleshooting firewall connections without a telnet xxxx port yyy command line to hand.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
