One thing about the "professional" DOS software (and you can see it in things like Emacs - eight modes and constantly shifting) was you were basically expected to live in it - it had the full attention of the computer and the user.

You were also expected to learn it; which meant you became "one with the machine" in a way similar to an organ player.

I remember watching Fry's Electronics employees fly through their TUI, so fast that they'd walk away while it was still loading screens, and eventually a printout would come out for the cage.