It is. The classical vacuum is heavier, you have to find the socket and plug it in (non-trivial if you have few of them, or have kids and sockets have kid blocks on them), and perhaps most importantly, you need two free hands to operate it (particularly when carrying, plugging in and repositioning). That alone is enough to turn it into a primary activity, i.e. the kind of thing that you explicitly decide to do and becomes your main focus. Meanwhile, a charged cordless cleaner is something you can semi-consciously grab with one hand while passing by, and use on the go to do some cleaning while actually focused on something else. It's an entirely different class of activity, much easier to fit in during the day.

Ironically, the cordless vacuum is even better than vacuum robots in this regard! I was surprised to hear from some friends and acquaintances that they prefer the manual vacuum to robotic one, and find it a better time/effort saver - but I eventually realized they're right, simply because the apps for controling the robotic vacuums are all steaming piles of shit, and their bad UI alone turns activating the robot into primary activity. It may be a brief activity, but it still requires full focus.

Ok but the corded vacuum actually fucking works.

I keep having to get it from progressively more inconvenient locations to which it has been banished in order to humor my wife’s delusion that the roomba or the handhold do anything.

I can make multiple passes with the handheld to get 80% of the crumbs in a small area, troubleshoot why the robot didn’t run yesterday in order to hope it will get the crumbs tomorrow, or just get the corded vacuum out and actually clean a whole room.

Work involves cables. Any product that promises something different is a lie.