I saw the headline and my first thought was "Emacs tutorials, cool! What's not to like?" and then I clicked the link and saw
Video 1 - Setting up the package manager
Video 2 - Intro to Org Mode
...
and thought "Why there are two things" and then came back to the comments and this thread was at the top and it sort of put the decision by the videos' authors in perspective.
At it's heart, Emacs is "The Extensible, Customizable, Self-Documenting, Display Editor." [1] I'd be much more comfortable saying Notepad is a simple, modeless editor. For a contemporary developer, package management is a reasonable reference point (even JavaScript has package management). And to me, org-mode is the killer app...Oh Babel. There is nothing else quite like You.
I was not trying to avoid anything. I've been using Emacs for several years (and the same keybindings work in Bash and similar keybindings are available in many other editors/IDE's and in Firefox via plugins or settings).
For me, using Spacemacs would be limiting because not every mode has bindings and none of the official Emacs documents and most of the unofficial blogs and SO questions etc. don't describe keystrokes in terms of Spacemacs. In the end, using Spacemacs is using Emacs and will sooner or later require I know Emacs. Other people may have a different experience. Personally, I don't want to spend time cross-referencing the official documentation with this: https://github.com/Somelauw/evil-org-mode/blob/master/doc/ke... in the middle of trying to understand an org-mode feature.
I dunno. I think it's fine. For new users it has batteries included. For existing users, it's a lot of common-sense rules and a fairly simple mapping anyways.
I apologize for misinterpreting your comment, though.
As for notepad, I will give up org mode when you pry it from my cold dead hands. Can't imagine not using structured text and navigation for notes, outlines and task management.
I don't think Spacemacs isn't fine. That doesn't mean I would recommend it generically. My generic recommendation is vanilla Emacs because it is easier to find the right answer when there's a problem and more people capable of providing informed help.
At it's heart, Emacs is "The Extensible, Customizable, Self-Documenting, Display Editor." [1] I'd be much more comfortable saying Notepad is a simple, modeless editor. For a contemporary developer, package management is a reasonable reference point (even JavaScript has package management). And to me, org-mode is the killer app...Oh Babel. There is nothing else quite like You.
[1]: http://worrydream.com/refs/Stallman%20-%20EMACS,%20The%20Ext...