A lot of misinformation in here. Aluminum is not new tech. Turbos are not new tech. Direct injection is not new tech.
We've been told the death of the V8 was imminent for DECADES. But for those of us who live in reality, we have observed that the exact opposite has occurred. Audi, Porsche, Nissan, Infiniti, Ferrari, Maserati, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Toyota, all are now running V8s in trucks or performance cars (or both). Not to mention Ford, Dodge, Jeep, and Chevy.
On the other hand, the turbo V6 is not commonly used in performance or enthusiast oriented applications.
The reason Ford is putting the 3.5 in the Raptor is because they're already working on it for the GT. And the reason they're putting it in the GT is for Le Mans rules, not because it's a better engine for the job. Everybody, even Ford, knows it sounds like shit (do we really need to talk about the fake engine sounds again?) and the whole boost lag thing makes zero sense in an off road setting where throttle response and modulation are important. Now, towing a boat up a long hill, no one would argue that a turbo engine is the way to go for that application. But that's not what the Raptor is about.
Hopefully Ford fixes this like they did in 2010 when they put the 5.4 in for launch.
I'm definitely waiting to see before I make a move and everyone else really should be doing the same. Go check the F150 forums for all the quality issues the new models have had if you need a reminder about buying the first model year of anything.