I'm sure that there can be situations where it's better to sacrifice sound quality and reliability for the convenience of wireless but I think the ability to replace cables is a huge advantage and not a pain point at all. The only problem I've ever had was with an old pair from Sony where by the time I needed a new cable they'd stopped selling a replacement cable but I knew I was rolling the dice when I got that pair because the cable wasn't standard.

Even in the extreme case where you're replacing them every other year you could buy a handful of spares right away so you have them on hand when you need them and your headphones will outlast the batteries in your airpods

Wired headphones are also 1/10 of the price of airpods. So they still come out ahead on the cost of ownership front.