What garbage collection? Isn't staging area actually a feature? I've never used anything else since when I started needing something like 5 years ago git was already a recommended choice, but I also never felt like I needed anything else.
And no staging area is strictly simpler than having a staging area, which is contrary to your assertion.
Sometimes, I try a few different approaches to make something work. Each of these attempts is a different branch--I might need to revisit it, or pull stuff out of it. Good luck staring at a branch name and working out if it's landloop or landloop2 that had the most working version of the code.
I've been using git for a few years, and staging has been all cost with zero benefit so far.
Well yes, but the GP is claiming that git is the most simple thing above file storage.
Staging may be a feature, but it adds complexity. Perhaps useful complexity, but complexity nonetheless.