I use carbon steel pans on a ceramic electric stovetop and they work perfectly. If you don't like Western style pans and you still want to use a wok, then you can get a wok where the centre is flat (many woks are built that way so it should't be too hard to find one), and it will work the same way as the pans I use.
The point of the wok is that the liquid gathers in the centre of the wok leaving the sides with very little liquid on them which helps a lot with browning. You can also throw small amounts of relatively delicate ingredients (like garlic) that will get sauted in deep pool of oil in the centre and then you can add more ingredients and build your dish.
With any flat bottom you give away some properties of the wok, depending on how large the flat part is.
Another nice property of wok is that because of its dome shape it will not deform even at high temperature differentials. Any flat piece of steel subjected to high temperature differentials will deform over time.
yes, I get what you mean about the pool of liquid in the centre, my wife is Asian and I've seen her using that technique before.
You're right about pans getting warped, I have this issue from time to time with my carbon steel pans, luckily it is an easily fixable issue (using a sturdy rubber mallet on a pre-heated pan is my favourite method).
