Back in the day many of us switched to automatic mechanical watches that didn't require manually winding.

Yes, once it was technically possible. I think interesting idea is from a Human Factors perspective. I contend from human factors perspective using 24ish hours is good technical limit. Most humans operate on a 24 hour cycle so keeping devices on that cycle has a certain simplicity. It is easy to communicate and shares a historic limit with its mechanical ancestors.

This could also help in keeping the battery size in check. The engineering of all aspects should be balanced.