Like you say when your jumping around a lot then it matters less. When you're typing a lot then it does matter to keep your fingers on the home row.
And my point is that it does not matter. Use the mouse. Use the arrow keys. Use the function keys. Use a GUI. Use multiple monitors.
If we are talking about productivity and code quality, the editor is orders of magnitude less significant than a huge list of other things. It does not matter.
Then we have someone now saying "don't use the hjkl" keys. Really? How far is the idiocy going to go?
If I am building a business or a product the last thing on my mind is what text editor we will be using. It is so ridiculously insignificant in the grand scheme of things that seeing people focus on it is beyond comprehension.
The first point is true. The second point is false -- it does matter. Saying that X is less important than Y can't be used to argue that X doesn't matter at all.
> If I am building a business or a product the last thing on my mind is what text editor we will be using. It is so ridiculously insignificant in the grand scheme of things that seeing people focus on it is beyond comprehension.
That's true in general, but there's an exception -- if you can improve the efficiency of editing, you might make a basic change in people's thinking and become a millionaire as a side effect.
Guess how I know this.
vim is a cult based on metrics that are not significant drivers in the context of building a software product or company.
Oh, I agree -- based on modern standards it was quite primitive and somewhat poky when used by an experienced touch-typist. But I was only comparing it to vi. :)
I see your point in people evangelizing VIM, Emacs, Apple, whatsoever, but... who cares? Let them be. I don't see, why you try so hard to prevent people from being happy and enjoy little things in life. Why does everything have to be insignificant, because something else is so much more significant? I seriously don't get your point there.
Let people love their editor, even if it is insignificant to you. People actually are more productive, when they are happy using a product they like, or could you seriously imagine writing code/surfing the web/do anything with the on-screen keyboard? Even you would get frustrated and would hate your job. It does matter. Maybe not the productivity-wise, but definitely how you, as a person, feel.
If all I achieve is to virtually snap a newbie out of the trance created by HN dogma the result is good. It would be a tragedy to promote these tools for another thirty years.