"I can spend most of the day on the 39t middle ring, with almost no FD shifting"

and

"On the other hand, the compact is simpler"

You can only pick one of those, Peter2.

"I like the close gear ratios on the triple"

Is this true, though? I've seen it stated many times on BF.

Look at the Sheldon Brown gear calculator and plug in the numbers. The percentage of the jumps between cogs on the cassette is exactly the same, with either a standard 52x39x30 or a compact 50x34.

The compact acts to, well, compact the range of gearing compared to a triple, by loping off the top and bottom end.