stoves are almost a religious thing, especially among the long distance hiking crowd. You're gonna get a dozen different answers...
Personally, I never owned anything other than a canister stove. They are reliable, safe, easy to use, and over the distances you carry a food and fuel load in the Sierra, the weight to BTU output of the entire system is about as good as it gets. You can control the flame well, they pack nicely, and if you need a stove in winter, the inverted canister remote setups are also very competitive.
Meanwhile you can find small wood stoves, Esbit stoves, alcohol stoves made out of pepsi cans, massive flame spewing pressurized white gas stoves, and all will heat your food or water.
For short trips, a small gas canister (110g) and a super light stove like my Vargo Titanium is all I need. Never tried the Jetboil, but I read enough about it to know that for single hikers who don't need to simmer food, or fry fish on their hike, it is probably one of the most efficient solutions.
here's my solo summer setup with a 220g canister (good for 4-5 days of hot breakfast and supper) - stove is 2.7 ounces, pot is 6 ounces, plastic support is 0.9 ounces but worth its weight in gold. Add two Bic lighers at 1.4 ounces, a titanium spork at 0.3 ounces and a titanium mug at 2 ounces and the kitchen is complete.
for more than one person and in winter, I use a Snow Peak remote canister stove with a stronger and larger Montbell pot. Heavier, but super reliable and works in any temp. In 30+ years of using canister stoves, going back all the way to a French Bleuet Gaz made of sheet metal, I have never had a single problem. I do enjoy watching others trying to light these liquid fuel bomb stoves, though.
