Made a mistake in my previous post: it said: "hideously high chain and cassette cogs". It should have said: hideously high chain and cassette costs'. Sorry.
Check what a 12+ speed cassette costs relative to a say 7-speed cassette. Then the costs of the chains. So if you are putting in decent miles, you'll be replacing the chain 3 x per year, and the cassette roughly yearly. Factor that into your decision to buy one of the faddish recent 1 x 13 speed systems.
1 x systems are a boon to the bike industry, as it spawned a mass changeover in wheels, then frames, shifters, derailleurs etc. while meanwhile limiting gear choices.
Because 1 x systems provides a much reduced gear choice, and features big jumps between the cogs, it means that more cogs were required. When cassettes went to 11 speeds a few years back, even the most gullible industry watcher and slavish bike industry booster must have admitted that the "add another cog to the cassette every 7 years" game of planned obsolescence had run its course and was well past the point of the ridiculous. However, with a 1 x system, you actually need these extra cogs, so that the planned obsolescence game can continue for at least a few more cycles. We can now continue onto to 13 or 14 speeds and beyond!
The industry was saved due to the simple design decision of removing chainrings.