Text rendering hates you (2019)
This is one reason why I respect LaTeX so much, and why I can often spot documents written using MS Word a mile away. The idea that it doesn’t matter, that humans are not sensitive to or affected by these things, is plainly false. If I’m reading a long document, it matters. It may not matter ‘objectively’ but … I am human and it does affect me.<p>The corollary is, if I’m writing a document that I know others will be judging (e.g. a research grant application or a scientific publication) I will absolutely 100% do what I can to make it a more pleasant experience for the reader, including using LaTeX for text rendering. I may change (or not) the default font, but for text rendering and all the tiny decisions about spacing, kerning, etc, I will trust LaTeX over MS Turd any day.<p>Sure, “it shouldn’t matter”, a reader ought to judge my ideas and not be affected by this other stuff —- but, alas, the reader (for now ;) ) is human, and we are affected by this stuff.