This is only true for gear hoarders. Many many many people still shoot film or use high end cameras explicitly for the end result.

I thought I covered that when I said "I get that lots of people derive inspiration from the process and the medium". I.e. people enjoy the act of shooting film.

But there's also a lot of people who covet the "film look" and the "character" of vintage lenses, even if that's not something you personally care about.

I personally love the look of movies that are shot on film, though I have no desire to ever try it myself (way too expensive).