Yeah, Azalea, you have a good point.  There's no question that most* paddlers find a true solo canoe is vastly superior to a tandem paddled backwards from the bow and those are just a couple of reasons.  If paddling a tandem solo was all that appealing, the solo canoe niche would not exist, or certainly not to the extent that it does.

*some on this board are perfectly happy to paddle a tandem solo and think nothing of it, and this comment is in no way meant to disparage that point of view.  If they are happy, I'm happy for 'em!   :D