You are acknowledging that you are wrong without even noticing. No, haskell is not an "ivory tower". It is a very practical, useful language. That is precisely the reason it has gained so much momentum and usage. Ocaml had more users than haskell back in the mid 00s. Now haskell absolutely dwarfs ocaml. The reason ocaml doesn't get more interest pigging backing off of haskell is that there is no reason to use ocaml over haskell.