I can request a show, do a load of laundry and have it available. I've decent enough Internet where a movie can be available in as little as 5 minutes if it finds a nice little hevc webrip. I get that it's not instant but a proper setup can have you rocking and rolling in under an hour.

It’s a fair criticism but I find the drawbacks to be quite tolerable compared to the benefits. Each person must do their own calculus. As the user above alluded to, there are apps which make the experience almost seamless. My two favourite apps ever are Radarr and Sonarr.

Not with enough server space.

Jellyfin Jellyseerr Radarr Sonarr Jackett Transmission

Streaming services aren't much better, they regularly didn't have what I wanted to watch and I'm not subscribing to more than one. Now I'm subscribing to none and watch what I want instead of what Netflix has available.

Well I just download more or less everything that comes out lol. It's like having my own streaming service with thousands if movies and shows available.