Disaster, schmaster. , I would respectfully counter.
All things said about another company betting design.
Late, overweight, too complex, underpowered, beset with problems like flutter, main gear issues, ****ty quality of initial powerplant... the list goes on.
It was called the 747.
IMHO Boeing will grind through the 787 problems, break even and then turn a nice profit.
A decade or two from now, those jets will be everywhere.
And the first plastic airliner will eventually be seen as an important evolutionary step.
Boeing aren't muppets.
Just a matter of time, may be longer than expected, but I think it will happen.