I use xterm and i3wn on debian and I never experienced anything faster. Surely the idea of waste GPU for the terminal never even crossed my mind so alacritty is IMO overkill.
I agree, they could make two models that cater both the markets they are gong for which are "mini servers" for lans and iot where no one needs to look at the monitor and you access it with ssh/vnc, and "mini desktops" for education where an active user sits in front of a monitor.
So:
- Pi Server: without all the stuff that not belong in it -- for a cheap price like you said
- Pi Desktop: with all the stuff that belongs there -- for a premium price.
Of course this means double design, double production line, double testing,. support, etc. And will most likely reduce revenue. This is probably why they go with the all in one approach.