My impression is that knives and other utensils for the commercial kitchen differ in one key aspect from those for the home -- they're not expected to last a lifetime.
I did a stint of consulting work in the meat packing industry several years ago, specifically at Clougherty Packing (Farmer John) in Southern California, which at the time was (and maybe still is) the largest pork slaughter house and packer west of Chicago.
One of the main concerns was whether the company was required to pay its 1200 butchers for the time they spent sharpening the knives they used in the process of disassembling hogs. Consequently, I learned more than I ever thought possible about knives and how to sharpen them, or at least how these pros do it.
Believe me, I would never do to my Wusthof and Hattori knives what they do to the professional knives these guys use. They sharpen them every two or three days on electric grinders, and hone them once or twice every day on electric honing machines, and they constantly steel them as they work. Their knives always were so razor sharp that I was afraid to handle them -- they go through 6 inches of meat as if it were warm butter.
I learned that these pros are required to buy their own knives, so they go for good quality. However, because of the frequent sharpening, their knives wear out in 3 to 6 months and must be replaced -- again, out of the workers' own pockets. Consequently, they buy much cheaper knives than most home cooks would pick. And they never buy stainless -- it's carbon steel or nothing, which takes a much better edge than stainless, but it's also softer and requires more frequent sharpening, and it rusts if not properly cared for.
So, as good as those professional knives are, I decided that they're not what I want in my kitchen. I like the ease of care of stainless, I find that I can get it plenty sharp for my needs, and it holds its edge for a long time because I'm not using it 8 hours per day. And like my All-Clad and Caphalon pots and pans, my knives are a whole lot prettier than what the pros use.