It’s not only way more friction than iCloud, but you’d be surprised how many people nowadays don’t even own a PC or Mac.
In my wife’s family 60% of people only have phones, tablets and smart TVs. They use laptops/desktops only at work.
It's a shame, but I don't see how this is a knock against Apple. They offer a basic service to backup your device on their infrastructure. If you want better/more you have to provide the infrastructure yourself, and they support several common permutations of suitable infrastructure. I think that's reasonable.
On a daily basis there’s no more friction than iCloud. My phone backs up to my computer over WiFi once a day when it gets plugged in for charging. I don’t ever think about it—it just happens.
