This conversation has reminded me of Larry Huan’s “efficient carpenter”. There’s a comment on one of these videos along the lines of “before carpenters had nail guns slowing them down” that made me chuckle. Watching these guys setting and driving nails in 2 hits is a pretty humbling experience.
I'm old enough to remember when nail guns got cheap enough for the average carpenter to afford one. I remember my friend telling me that it wasn't much faster than a hammer, but at least he wouldn't blow out his elbow by the time he was 40.
That's kind of my point.
> flooring, trim, and so on
Hardwood floor installation is sped by flooring staplers. Though the real time saver has been carpet, linoleum and lately vinyl plank.
Trim is largely installed with finish nailers.
Siding and roofing nailers exist and are ubiquitous in those tasks.
Drywall itself is a time saving innovation over lathe and plaster.
Equipment installation though, generally hasn't gotten much faster and people want more of it to boot.