> I can not for the life of me understand the appeal of org-mode.

I used emacs for nearly two decades, and I agree.

I tried - so hard - to get into org-mode, but just couldn't do it. I'd use it religiously for a week or two, and then the inertia was just too high. Or maybe I really didn't need all the features. Who knows.

Saying you "don't get" org-mode is blasphemy in the church of emacs, so I just assumed something was wrong with me and kept my mouth shut, and used it as a very simple todo list.

I would, however, use org-mode if I were say, working on a PhD or doing long-term public research where keeping everything in an open format was essential.