I think it deals with familiarity defining personal aesthetic? You grow up within a space, and the trends of that space become the norm, and within that norm there's a sweet spot that's 'cool'.
Every generation that grows up in a dramatically different aesthetic space thus ends up with completely different aesthetics from one another.
When we're talking about setting someone up with a OS & DE that 'just works', all of those are extremely relevant - some of the most relevant aspects to start off, I'd argue.