I never understood that need to categorize at such a detailed level.
Same is happening in the bicycle world. Now your road bike that you also take on dirt roads should be called a gravel bike, but then we need to make distinctions with gravel racing bikes, gravel bikepacking bikes, adventure bikes and they will soon make the distinction between rigid, hardtail and fully suspended gravel bikes regular or flat-bar gravel bike, the same way they split MTB to cross country, downcountry, trail, all-mountain, enduro, dh, freeride, fatbike and whatever I am missing. This is ridiculous. The irony is an aero road bike designed for pure speed on the road today can accept wider tires (up to 32mm wide) than what was considered fit enough for riding dirt roads 20 years ago (25-28mm), so they should be also called gravel bike in a way. Just call them bikes FFS.
Categorization, or ontology, is a fundamental human activity that can be applied to pretty much any field or niche. I often think of chemistry in this context: there's a big chunk of it that is about classifying substances and systematic nomenclature. The name of compound alone conveys a ton of information!
By naming things, we unlock all sorts of superpowers for studying, remixing, remembering, sharing knowledge, and creating derived stuff.
However! I confess I was sharing your sentiment... In my case I think it is a reaction to how we are constantly bombarded by algorithmically chosen content these days. There’s something beautiful about organic discovery, even if it means you won't be exposed to EVERYTHING that you MAY ever enjoy.
I read an article by Rhiannon Gibbons, which suggested that music was primarily regional until the 20th century, and that the taxonomy of genres emerged alongside the nationwide distribution of recorded music, which is of course worldwide now.
Likewise, my bike is regional -- it's thrown together from what I've found in my neighbors' trash. Most non-sportive riders use the bike categories to narrow down their choices in search of a bike that's comfortable, practical, and at least moderately stylish. In the early years of mass produced "mountain bikes," most MTB's were purchased for use on pavement. People liked them because they looked like they'd be sturdy and comfortable. It helped that MTB's were also most people's first introduction to indexed shifting and aluminum wheels.
Genres in music aren't just about splitting hairs—they're about expression, identity, and connection. Just like how "gravel bikepacking bike" tells you what experience someone is after, music genres help people find the sound they're seeking. Yeah, sometimes labels do get excessive, but they help us share and understand each other better.
Same is happening in the bicycle world. Now your road bike that you also take on dirt roads should be called a gravel bike, but then we need to make distinctions with gravel racing bikes, gravel bikepacking bikes, adventure bikes and they will soon make the distinction between rigid, hardtail and fully suspended gravel bikes regular or flat-bar gravel bike, the same way they split MTB to cross country, downcountry, trail, all-mountain, enduro, dh, freeride, fatbike and whatever I am missing. This is ridiculous. The irony is an aero road bike designed for pure speed on the road today can accept wider tires (up to 32mm wide) than what was considered fit enough for riding dirt roads 20 years ago (25-28mm), so they should be also called gravel bike in a way. Just call them bikes FFS.