The Setup Cost
I won't lie — configuring Neovim took 40 hours. Lua scripting, LSP configuration, plugin management. It's not for everyone. But for someone who spends 8 hours a day in an editor, the payoff is worth it.
The Productivity Gain
Once muscle memory kicks in, modal editing is faster than anything else. My hands rarely leave the keyboard. Navigation, refactoring, search — all keyboard-driven. It's a different way of thinking about code.