. I think they were pretty sure that it is an unreliable (even senseless, or how they worded it "ridiculos") indication, so they would have ignored it anyway
Correct.
And as far as Asiana crash - I very much doubt these pilots even once glanced in the direction of the airspeed, or even if they did their brain was simply shut out of processing any such info, so contention that a round dial would have saved them is a pure poppycock.