I think that you may have hinted at the true difference between a rider/driver and an enthusiast.
Some of us enjoy the added dimension or challenge of friction shifting, AND are aware of key benefits that non-enthusiasts rarely even imagine.
When I first tried returning to friction shifting after having built and ridden my first couple of bikes having integrated shifters, my first reaction actually was that "one can never go back" to adjusting to the added dimension of skill needed to engage in one's most spirited riding efforts.
But I kept at it in the interest of correctly restoring a few bikes and discovered that I had been very wrong about that!
These days I alternate between bikes having every common type of shifting system, and have no difficulty at all adjusting to and enjoying the ride that goes with any of them.
But as I mentioned, each has it's own best combination of chain and cogs that exploit the benefits of the particular system.
And even the friction-shifted stem shifters are great to have along on a spirited training ride
once the rider has acclimated to the use of them in widely-varying conditions.
The rider after all is extremely adaptable if not limited by pre-conceived opinion or by closed-mindedness.
Several years ago I purchased an old 10-speed bike for which I had a very good old replacement wheelset at the ready. The frame and the good wheels were both spaced 120mm and the old Phil hubs were not spaced for even the added width of an Ultra-6 freewheel, so I gambled on another strategy that might permit spirited riding in hilly terrain at the challenging pace of my familiar riding companions.
The chainrings on this late-60's bike happened to be the familiar 52-36t which was very common in those days, so I built up a custom 5sp Uniglide freewheel having ratios just tight enough to work well with the DT friction levers (13-15-17-20-24t).
So I then had the range I needed and only had to learn to do a one-handed double-shift whenever I used the front derailer in more-spirited riding conditions.
It didn't take long to validate my presumption, and the old Simplex derailers worked snappily enough (after some cage-pivot spring tension adjustment) to support my efforts.
It did require that I know how adjust the derailer's chain gap, and did require that good-performing chain and freewheel cogs were used, as well as the usual attention to shifter lubrication and good cabling. But the rider-adaptation was learned within a few rides, and the bike worked well over a subsequent 3,000 miles. I still have the bike, and ride it occasionally, with no problem in re-adapting to it's operating parameters (which, as an enthusiast, I find to be an entertaining challenge).
Yes, I did say
spirited riding.
Non-enthusiasts need not apply!