It also works with smartphones, which most people have and use regularly. Not to mention the fact that the kind of person who would buy a Chromecast is probably an above-average user anyway.

I guess it's differing tastes, but I'd much rather have one less remote control and just be able to use one (or more) of the devices that I always have within arms reach. If the Apple TV had a decent app to use instead of the remote I would use it and dump Apple's joke of a remote. It doesn't, the app is literally four arrows so you can navigate around like the very limited remote. Steve Jobs hated buttons and as a result his ideal remote is garbage.

Using WiFi also means line of sight isn't necessary which is a nice perk.