I think a better explanation of this phenomenon is that most users don’t really really care about performance as long as it is above a certain threshold, and ca

I think a better explanation of this phenomenon is that most users don’t really really care about performance as long as it is above a certain threshold, and care more about features and cost. Given this as long as your software is efficient “enough” - which is easier to reach as computers get more powerful, you are better off optimizing for developer productivity on the desktop. Now this dynamic is complete different on mobile and server since efficiency directly translates to battery use (mobile) and electricity and hardware costs (server).