A NAS is not magical. It is just a rather limited computer. Anything a NAS can do so can a normal desktop, and it'll do it better. Sharing files over a network is one of these things. Managing the files is way, way, better since you just use your normal desktop file manager rather than some NAS web stuff that'll break due to CA TLS issues in a few years.
Desktop computers are becoming increasingly uncommon. I'm a pretty technologically inclined person and I havent owned a desktop in years. For most people, laptops have been more than capable enough for their needs for a long time. And for general purpose computing, smartphones are pretty heavily used too.
Yes, people do think that. And then they end up with an octopus of fragile external drives prone to problems and breakage. It's a sad state of affairs for the non-tech inclined. Like everyone is buying mopeds and pulling around trailers rather than just buying a small car.
Eh, I'm much more likely to accidentally reformat all my drives on my desktop than a NAS. Sure I can just restore from backup but it's just a security blanket to not have to worry about it
