My guess is it's difficult to stick to counting calories just like it's difficult to workout regularly so people dont do it and instead rationalize a reason why it's useless or impossible.

I count my calories every day and have come to the same conclusion about how little room there actually is to maintain a proper caloric deficit. It's especially hard when stressed from work or exercise. I find it to be a valuable tool for health and am also surprised by how close calorie estimations are from Garmin watches.