The delightfulness factor is something that’s a big deal and that technical people trivialize and can’t be expressed adequately on paper for non-technical people.

I used to be a die hard Android and Windows/Linux power user. All the stuff I’d scoff at the stuff people would mention on iOS/macOS because “well I can do that too if I do this and that”. But then I switched back to iOS/macOS for a project and a lot of the papercuts being solved out of the box was actually such a huge gain.

That’s not to say Apple is perfect. They can improve a ton too (give me a proper path bar in finder please!), but (and I say this often) the products they make are more than the sum of their parts.

but of course none of that is something that is evident when you’re shopping for a product.

Plus, the question one would ask is: “can this do this banal task?” not “which one does this banal task better”. So I see why it’s not prioritized on other platforms.

Most people are just shopping for capability and specs. The delightfulness is too ephemeral to consider until you encounter it yourself.