> Does this specific detail matter if the customer can just scale up
Yes, as it drifts further and further the scaling can be meaningless. This is exactly what's lost with the newer generation and cloud.
Also with the databases mentioned it can't be horizontally scaled. Writes are single server. So there's a limit.
> so it's not exactly easy for the CEO to come on here and tie the infra engineers hands by publishing the exact details of whatever they currently have deployed at the moment
Nothing to do with infra. This is about the product itself. What are you selling? That's the question. The product could be very expensive or not based on that. It also might not meet any organization needs e.g. since they have to meet a performance criteria and that's not just about more CPUs.
> If you really care that much ($$$) I wouldn't be surprised if they'll let you use whatever fancy pants core you have in mind.
And likely the competition can too. Point being? Does that matter? Imagine going to a store and buying a "shirt". You might be allergic to cotton. Now do you just buy any shirt hoping it works?