The touch bar should have been in addition to the function row really. On the 16" mac there is plenty of space for both. Few people hate the touch bar, they hate the lack of function keys.

I hate it because it’s too easy to accidentally press a “key” and trigger some potentially large scale event.

This has always been my issue with it. For some reason it doesn't have pressure sensitivity like the trackpad (which also has no physical button). Lightly brushing the touchbar is enough to activate the controls on it.

I hate it because it takes three taps and a delay to change the volume or brightness, 99% of my use case.

Yep we share the same unpopular opinion. I really like the Touch Bar.

I do like the idea - and I saw a Windows laptop with a bigger 'touch bar' that I think is even more practical - but I just wished they offered a version without it. I heard the value of just the touch bar is in the region of $600 (random guess), because it adds some hardware from the Apple Watch to the Mac. That's a lot of money for a feature like that.

I'm curious, how is the touch bar used in your workflow?

Final Cut Pro most likely.

Correct.

The Touch Bar is also well-integrated into QuickTime Player as well as Quicklook, making video navigation much more efficient.

I only wish VLC would use it for timeline navigation.

And the rumors say that Apple will be removing it. Let's wait and see for the upcoming rumored 14/16 Macbooks.