This is true, I agree. But naive/novice users are stranded without it when they switch. Dock pinning doesn't come to them if they don't understand Windows Task

This is true, I agree. But naive/novice users are stranded without it when they switch. Dock pinning doesn't come to them if they don't understand Windows Taskbar pinning, finding /Applications is not a sure thing, and adding items to the Dock is mysterious - they come and go if they're not pinned. So I've seen people Spotlight apps each time, work out of .DMGs on the desktop, rely on auto-mounted .DMGs from installers (Skype), or keep apps they want around minimized. It's also not rare for them to consider an application "missing" if it's not running and not pinned. Launchpad + App Store is the answer for this class of user.