But convenience matters...and so gear matters. Or do you dispute that convenience matters?
Everyone's different.
That is also true. But it does not dispute my claim. I still say "convenience matters". For EVERYONE. NO exceptions.
A photographer can choose how conveniently they can take the pictures, depending on the situation and factors such as budget, availability, location, light and so on. But, I still claim that convenience matters to everyone. And usually, given the choice of getting the results with lots of effort, or with less effort, most will choose less effort.
Keep in mind this is to get the SAME results. Sometimes to get the same results the difference in convenience is so large that no one will choose above a certain difficulty level.
We can argue examples all day long, but there is no point. You are correct in that ANY picture taken with ANY gear, COULD also be taken with some other gear, but with a different convenience level.
Your claim is true. Gear is a convenience.
But so is mine. Convenience matters.
And so: Gear matters.