[kleiba]

Well, for one, org-mode predates Markdown (not by much, but anyway), and it is not just the syntax but also a lot of usage functionality. However, while a lot of people use Emacs especially because of org-mode, I almost never use it, although Emacs has been my daily driver for over 25 years.

For me, the concept of modal editing has never been appealing, so even though I know some basic vi, I never got into it. Perhaps I was influenced to some degree from taking some HMI classes in college (see Larry Tesler), I don't know.

Emacs is really just an editor, but it was built from the get-go to be super-hackable and has a very solid modular architecture, based on well thought-out concepts. That allows it to offer specialized functionality for different file types in the form of add-ons ("modes"), and it allows every end-user to fine-tune the editor to their own liking.

If you want to get a grasp of its capabilities, check out the "Emacs rocks!" series [0] - it's a bunch of short videos demonstrating some interesting things you can do with Emacs.

[0] https://emacsrocks.com/