People said that for photoshop and then procreate took over a big chunk of the market.

Similarly people said that for desktop sculpting but many artists now use Nomad, plus there’s ZBrush for iPad coming out.

How do you we know it’s not worth working out unless someone tries?

And even if it doesn’t work out, just look at some of the UI learnings here that could be valuable to apply backwards.

People for years buy add on tablets as a peripheral for many types of graphics work, so the device is already a global maximum for certain types of work. No and low code solutions aside, anytime you’re bringing a keyboard in the mix the tablet has already lost.

Why is that your criteria? That feels arbitrary unless it’s a required interaction model.

Did phones with styluses mean they’d lost? It’s an optional, removable attachment.

There may not be, but unless it is attempted seriously do we actually know? Is the current local maxima near the global one or are we a long ways off? I have no idea, but I can't assume we are already there just because my imagination can't come up with a better solution.