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You mention dry surfaces, and then snow, ice, and gravel. You left out wet road, which is probably the most important use of ABS. From what I've seen, even professional drivers can't compete with ABS performance in the rain (especially if the surface isn't perfectly smooth). There just isn't enough feedback.
I'll give you that ABS can be detrimental on snow and gravel, but modern systems are getting much better at this. Regardless, I think the ability to retain directional stability is worth it. Periodically tapping the brakes in snow can also be useful to safely estimate to how much traction is available. The pedal kickback brings the driver to full attention right away as well.
By the way, an ABS stop from highway speeds on dry or wet pavement will save a lot more than 20 ft over locking the tires. That isn't even close to the best thing to do in those situations. Cadence braking can beat ABS in some situations, but I maintain that almost nobody has the presence of mind to do this in the real world (and very few can do it on wet roads in any state of mind).
I don't think that deriding these peoples' abilities is (necessarily) very honest. I'm much more experienced than most at handling cars at the limit, and I still have found that I didn't operate the brakes as well as possible in real-world emergencies with non-ABS vehicles (luckily, I still haven't hit anything because of it). I do fine at the track, but that's really not the same. There, you're fully alert at all times, almost always know when you're about to brake hard, don't have to worry about unexpected road imperfections, etc. The braking systems on race cars are also much easier to control precisely than on any street cars I've driven.
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