Part of the point is that this solution is known to pretty much everyone already, yet it's usually rejected for the reason people choose the unintuitive alternatives up top: It takes up more space for the same font and slider sizes.

I tend to prefer that solution too (or if you're really cramped for space, the old AmigaOS "MX gadget" which shows only the selected state, plus a small icon to indicate it will cycle between states).

Not necessarily, it is better to draw some attention at the beginning so that it motivates reader to keep reading.