The best way I’ve heard it explained is that excel is too good at doing too many, but it isn’t the correct tool for many of those things. Since it’s good and accessible, people make it work and then you get this jumbled mess of stuff after time passes.

It doesn’t help that Excel tries to be “smart”

Oh, putting in a lot#? Let’s make that a date.

Most people don’t set up an excel for what they want, they start using excel with what they have