Are these “normies” in the room with us right now?

Not at all, I ranted too much so the intention was lost. If you’re going to post a Nostr service somewhere like HN or any other non-Nostr aware place you have to expect that they will criticise. You hit “login” and you’re greeted with a pattern of authentication you’ve never seen before. Yes it can be googled but as a user you would expect some level of signposting to where you can learn more.