"Features" often tend to get in the way.

Now, there is nothing to prevent one from fabricating an adapter from tqfp or plcc to DIL or other convenient form factors if it's really helpful.

I've found it less costly and much more convenient to have adapters made for my specific application rather than buying commercially available adapters, as the latter seldom allow proper power supply bypass or advantageous routing of critically sensitive signals. In the past, I've been able to have dozens of such adapters produced in and shipped from the PRC for a fraction of what local prototype houses charge, and received qualitatively superior adapters in considerably less time than three or four attempts to "get it right" cost here in the U.S. Needless to say, much more effort needs to be put into quality of manufacture here in the U.S.

I do very much dislike having to cut-and-paste signal routing and supply bypass on costly commercially available adapters from such manufacturers as one finds by Googling "SMD Adapter" or "tqfp adapter" is not substantially advantageous hand-wiring an adapter on perf-board. That doesn't speak well for the market.

RE