Because it's cheaper and easier to just cut them off. It's just pets.
And yes, there wouldn't be any of those things if we wouldn't have the desire to own living beings 😁
Surely depends on what kind of gamer you are.
For me, the museum-mod (forgot the name) and all its addons made the last run very special despite the aging everything. It totally changed the way I did everything. And it all revolved around collecting all the shit I never cared for.
I have dreamed of such gadgets when I was a nerd-kiddo. Now I'm a nerd-adulto for decades and grew too cynical and weep at all those great innovative gadgets with this one being the epitome of "fuck you and your privacy!".
I'm no artist either, just a connoisseur. But the moment the voice sounds OBVIOUSLY tuned, it's meh. If it's used to correct something slightly, so noone really notices: who cares. Tool is tool.
Pixels are "loved" because they can run grapheneos and others. Not because they're technically superior phones.
They're the opposite of fucking samsung. In that one single regard though.
Attach phone, click install, wait, google gone. All others are getting harder and harder to even root.