> It doesn't do much better of a job than a rake would

That's disingenuous. Raking the yard is a half-day chore for me, that's fairly physically strenuous. Using a leafblower takes like an hour and is really easy- you can stand and point. A leafblower is a non-zero QoL improvement if you have to deal with leaves

Real question: why rake the yard? The road I understand, but what's wrong with just letting the leaves decompose and enrich the soil?

Leaves kill the grass. You want the grass to get light through the fall.

Just mow the leaves once or twice. Grass gets the light, and the leaves get decomposed more easily.

ok? how is that an environmentally better option than using a leaf blower?

It sounds like you have a massive yard. I can’t imagine having to spend more than 20mins raking a standard garden.

Is this a new thing? I’m Irish and never seen a leaf blower in my life (other than one used by a professional groundskeeper).

If you have a large property with tons of trees it is WAY more efficient than a rake