And I don't care for the independent keys on the top row. It's a stretch with how often I use them. My argument isn't "It's not that hard to...", it's "I prefer this." Different (key)strokes.
As for "different (key)strokes", I wouldn't have an issue if the choice to have these as independent keys were still around, but right now if you want that you have very limited choice. Hence my distaste for the trend.