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@hugo7
Personally, I find my carbon road bike smoother and stiffer than my (modern) steel fixed gear - but my road bike has a tapered steerer and massive tubes. They also have different tyres in different sizes (23mm Michelin Pro3's and 25mm Refuse respectively). In theory the bigger Refuse should be a bit more comfortable, but then the Pro3's are less agricultural. So who knows.
My old lugged Roberts 531 was lovely but flexed a lot - but this was probably due to the quill stem setup. My beater (lugged 531) track frame has carbon threadless forks and is less "comfortable" than my modern steel fixed gear. However, even with the old heavy steel forks it was still stiffer than the Roberts, despite using the "same" tubing and having the same construction method.
Therefore, IMO carbon is the "best" material due to its stiffness, comfort, and weight. I am also a firm believer in carbon forks, due to weight and comfort. But then I have never used any modern high end steel forks... but given the cost of decent basic carbon forks I'm not sure why anyone would bother in 9/10 cases.
In terms of longevity, one mate has has two old steel frames die on him, and another mate took a tumble on a full carbon bike and bent a dropout on the fork, basically writing-off the fork. If it were steel he *probably *could have got it repaired, but after paint, etc. I guess it would be c.£100. A new fork from PX was sub £100.
I have also seen people post internet pictures of broken versions of everything. For this reason I personally don't believe that any frame material in itself is going to be stronger or last longer. Also while I really like my fixed and I can't see me ever replacing it I would swap my road bike. So realistically a frame will probably get sold before wears out from new.
Therefore, based on my personal experiences I would buy a frame based on size, cost, aesthetics and features - ie mudguards, racey geo, weight, marketing, lifestyle choice, dick-factor, etc. So I wouldn't choose one based on material itself.