I appreciate the thought but I think there's a sort of survivorship bias in this. You remember the apps that worked for you which did this and not the ones that overwhelmed you too, even as a savvy user. The vast majority of users are not Hacker News users (even if we adjust that bar for average).

Even as a developer (not a UX designer), whenever a client suggested, up-front, there should be a "power user mode" I would ask, "Is there such a thing as a power user or just someone with Stockholm Syndrome who hasn't found a better app yet?"