a) I'm a developer, I do not use traditional function keys and would much rather have media keys, etc.
b) This laptop is not just for programmers. It is designed for many people, many of whom could benefit significantly (applications in video/music editing look very useful).
Function keys also served as media keys.
The terminal, for instance, has an instant man page key. This is kind of cool. A tiling window manager could have window management special keys. I have a very nice keyboard on my desk at home with, a glorious Unicomp PC122 with 24 function keys. I love it, but I need to confess I never used that many function keys. Ever.
So, F1 on Windows basically?
It seems to me that a lot of advantages mentioned by folks on the touchbar are born of Apple’s refusal to actually use the Fn keys as shortcut keys, unlike on Windows.
That's one of the reasons I use the F-keys on the PC122 so little - it's hard to remember what I made them do.
If they would have just placed the touchbar above the old row of ESC and Function keys, it could have been good. Now it is just shit.