If age of conventions is a valuable metric, TUIs have more. The keyboard hasn't change noticeably, and I can work way faster between separate windows/panes in a terminal and tmux, than in various GUI windows, where mouse focus dictates when I can start inputting.

While a mouse can theoretically use all pixels of a screen, in practical terms a keyboard has a much larger input space than a mouse, and if I can keep both my hands on the keyboard, I can work a lot faster.

At least that's my experience as a (starting) greybeard.

> You present the destruction of this simple separation of concerns as a benefit, but don't explain why it is one.

And you present the division of this simple unification of modalities as a benefit, but don't explain why it ought be many.

So far it's all just preference.

I'm not going to deny that the terminal has a ramp, is a lifelong learning curve. But I personally find it much more earnest, much closer to what is really happening, with less intermediation, and the way that terminal conposes with other things is usually unbeatable. TUI for humans, jsonl event sourcing for machine-to-machine.

> drawing on a couple of decades of established UX conventions for how they are displayed

I tend to not just click random apps open. I tend to have done some research and found what options there are on my own. I tend to know what I'm looking for, by the time I'm going to run something. In terms of getting there, finding stuff: the best convention I know of is aptitude, and dselect before it. Both very fine very old tui systems, and clear cuts above any app or web store, imo, for its power, directness, clarity, intent, and script ability.