I had a spell getting to grips with GPS in the early 2000s. It was something new to master, and went hand-in-hand with photography, video editing and desktop publishing.
My generation had embarked on a journey to master a number of emerging technologies, spread across a number of novel devices. Activities such as Audax provided an outlet for those skills, especially through social media.
Much of the interest lay in the learning process, as much as in the results. But the fact that the results were visible in the public realm, as magazine articles, validation records and online videos acted as a strong reinforcement, especially if they collected 'likes' on the way.
As time passed, the various devices combined into a single device, which does the job well enough for most purposes. So the learning aspect diminished and was replaced by convenience. We can now learn about rides, download details of the route, navigate around the course, record and upload the experience, and assess the reaction, all on a 'smartphone'.
In the early phases of the technology-shift, the learning curve gave status to those who had acquired useful skills. Once the technology is mature, the intermediate phases have no value, as use becomes more intuitive.
In fell-running, the mastery of navigation is one of the core skills, and initially the mastery of new technologies was an analogous learning process. Once an accessible device is available which de-skills navigation, then it's inevitable that use of that device will be questioned.
All of this is irrelevant to newcomers to an activity, who have grown up with GPS/Smartphones. Why would anyone not want to use them?
My answer is that my interest was sustained by the novelty of the various technologies, and the challenge of getting all the disparate components to work together. The easier that gets, the less interesting it is.
With no innovations, innovative people get bored, and move on. There's sometimes a retro counter-trend, as we see in hipster reaction to digital photography. Perhaps we'll see a return to routesheets produced on a Roneo machine, which opens up the possibility of organising a ride without electricity, as they can be hand-cranked.
Edit. I found an interesting article about the adoption of technology, mentioning duplicators. It suggests to me that nearly universal use of smartphones opens up previously niche activities to 'normals'. One implication is that 'special' activities then lose their 'special' appeal. It also give me the chance to squeeze Mahatma Gandhi into the argument.
The Roneo machine was a wonderful example of what Mahatma Ghandi called "appropriate technology". It enabled careful typists to run off multiple copies of agendas, news-sheets and programmes, instantly, and at low cost. The machines were often hand-cranked, not electric powered.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28292650