[dextorious]

"""Other cases I can think of are systems where high-throughput or low latency are major requirements but there aren't many of those."""

Actually, I haven't met many cases of systems were high-throughput or low latency are NOT major requirements.

Sure, you can wait for your admin script to do something for half an hour, if it means you get to write it in, say, Python, over some faster language. But you don't want to wait for most things, including most end user software. Here's a list people complain all the time about the slowness of:

1) text editors, programmer editors etc. 2) spreadsheets 3) media players 4) compile times 5) image editing programs 6) web pages/apps 7) mobile apps 8) games 9) file managers 10) IDEs 11) video/multimedia editing 12) sound editing 13) word processors 14) window management 15) databases 16) ftp 17) file management 18) asset management 19) browsers

If there's a program for something, there are people complaining it's slow/bloated.

[jond3k]

Well observed, but I think we need to tell apart cases where performance is mandatory and where it is optional. People wouldn't just complain if it was mandatory, it simply wouldn't be a viable product.