Ceramic bearings: What's the point?

The place where people comment on the ceramic making a noticeable difference (on the work stand, the actual power saving is all but undetectable on the road, and way smaller than the measurement resolution of your legs) is in the Campag Super Record BB, but that is all down to the fact that they do without rubber contact seals due to the above mentioned contamination-squishing properties of the bearings. You can get the same benefit on a bike with steel bearings by using shielded, rather than sealed, cartridges. The penalty is shorter bearing life, especially in wet or dirty conditions.

I don't think the hub was made with UK weather conditions in mind, the bearings seem fairy exposed, so I'll probably blank the shielded option. Given this is there's an argument that full ceramic at a reasonable cost might be better in the long term. How much longer are they meant to last over their steel counterpart? (cos if its 3x as long then 3x the price + better performance makes sense)

What did you pay, Dov?