They probably mean from an iOS device to a PC/Android. It can be done without using iCloud, but you’ll need a macOS machine or special iOS app to do it.

I’m fairly certain photos are the one thing you can get out of an iOS device with relative ease. They just present themselves as a USB storage device with a DCIM folder. Music, Videos, etc require specialized tool but photos are the exception.

You can download photos on a Windows PC through iTunes

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201302

"Windows: You can import photos to your PC by connecting your device to your computer and using the Windows Photos app"

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201302

This is still pretty bad, reminds me of using the iPod on Windows.

On my Android phone I can just send the photos directly to my MacOS machine via Bluetooth. No app required.

Bluetooth for file transfer in 2023?

You can setup a local web server and access all files using a Web browser from any device on the network. I have been using Trebleshot[0] on Android for this. Sadly the source code is archived now.

[0]: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.genonbeta.TrebleShot/

It can be. Sure.

And a house can be painted with a toothpick.

At the end of an export, I have a folder full of randomly named files. Now What about timestamps? Image names? Location? Timezone? Edits I made on the iPhone? Image quality? Is it heic, jpeg, png?

Apple forums are loaded with frustrations as this

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252812655

At a $1000+ price point, I am a customer and I am offended.

Can't you just send them on Signal or upload to Dropbox?

That's just using some other company's cloud. Why would you want to involve any third party for transferring files between your devices.