Could be, I guess it just depends on the context. Emacs shines when it involves interactivity. For example, recently I was exploring a large CSV file with some columns being base64 encoded keys. So when exploring this dataset, it was nice to come up with a command to get the item, base64 decode, perform HTTP request, get the response, and display it in another buffer pretty formatted. Making a command to do this in Emacs Lisp is surprisingly easy (just need a few functions like thing-at-point, base64-decode-string, request, insert, display-buffer, and json-mode). A shell script for this use case may lack the desired interactivity.
This would make a great emacs workflow demo video. Maybe I haven’t been searching for these videos in the last few years, but they don’t seem common. However, I think such examples could help developers increase their productivity while also energizing a new generation of emacs users.
