I use these features more when doing non programming tasks. Often I could use find/replace and some regex. However I enjoy the experience of having the editor do some of the lifting. I don't think I'm faster or better for it, just a little happier.
Using something like "ci(" to blank the parentheses under my cursor and immediately start typing a replacement saves me, like... a couple of seconds. But it gives me a little dopamine hit that I think helps with job satisfaction.
Yeah, same. I recently realized that I use vim‘s normal mode features even in situations where I’d certainly be faster just typing things out manually, just because it feels good to “work smart”. Even if it’s not really.
Another downside: using (and watching people use) editors without vim features becomes painful.