back then there were no lite wallets. it was either store funds in an exchange (stupid idea) or use something like blockchain.info (back then they had bugs) o0r for best privkey storage and securty. be a full node
there were no ledger devices, no phone apps
so the main option was to be a full node.
but now people dont need to be. most just use phone apps and ledger devices.
Lets say you are new and you just got into Bitcoin with all the additional options available would you choose one of those over running a node yourself? I feel like you are saying people would choose the easiest option but I would prefer to run my own node and I am sure that you would too. Its not like you have made the change and are now using something else.
actually i do use my own home-made lite wallet aswell.. its just a transaction creator and pusher to the network.
point is.
think common sense, logic and practical real life
if someone is new to bitcoin. well lets use paypal..
if paypal offered their own lite free app. or a desktop software that required days to download data. and wasnt great at just letting you just make a transaction from the first 10 minutes.. would you prefer the lengthy way.
yes being a full node has some security. but practically average joe(non nerds) wont care about the technical bits. they just want to get on and spend