Redstone-Cored Wire (instead of sprinkling it on the ground like Salt Bae)

I know changes to redstone have been in the works.  Namely, having it act more intuitive by activating devices in order of decreasing signal/power.  However, changes to redstone will break a LOT of player creations.

Why can't we have the best of both?

If we leave redstone as is (as a raw, not fully tameable power source), we can keep useful quirks like quasi connectivity as a feature of redstone.  Copper wire can be a medium with more control over the mysterious energy within redstone, such as powering devices in order of decreasing signal power.

Redstone can still be the energy source, but introducing an alternative medium to harness it would allow the player to use both old and new redstone technology.

Additional thoughts:

• Copper wire could pass through water.  Since redstone is not "electricity", it doesn't need to zap/harm the player.  Maybe we want the more concentrated redstone to harm the player, like a trap.
• Rather than wire, copper/iron/gold could be crafted with redstone to create cored wire (a thin metal strip wrapped around powdered alloys, aka redstone).  Think of it like a metal straw filled with redstone.  This way it is less like electricity and more like another way to hardness redstone without having it sprinkled all over the ground.
• The metal used in the previous bullet point could provide different effects.  Copper could carry the signal further, but it oxidizes...  gold does not tarnish though.
• It could be placed along the bottom of blocks, like along a ceiling.