Vocal cords have even more pronounced overtones than strings. To a first approximation, they produce a series of pulses. And we are exposed to these harmonic-rich sounds from the womb.
It would be an interesting (and perhaps cruel) experiment to expose babies to synthesized sounds that have a harmonic structure with different mathematics. For example, sounds with lots of sqrt(2) frequency ratios.
The ear itself produces some harmonic distortion, at moderate levels. I don't know if that's important enough to play a role in our pitch perception though.
Now pick almost any other category-leading software product and you will find a similar situation.
The category-leading product is probably from one of the earliest companies in the field, if not the first. They have the oldest and cruftiest code - and the manpower to somehow keep it working. It is definitely not the fastest and definitely not the most stable. But they do have the resources to make sure it supports all the third party integrations and features important for the big customers.
I have encountered exactly this same situation on several different fields and categories.
At at time when I was a complete open source fanatic in the early 2000s it suddenly made me realize how Microsoft actually had much better quality software than most big proprietary software vendors.
Nuclear propulsion is more efficient but doesn’t produce enough thrust for surface launch(\)
We are stuck with chemical rockets for that. Nuclear could help us get to Mars faster or launch less mass from the surface. It may even be relevant for the upper stage of a launcher. But not for getting off the ground.
https://www.wired.com/1996/12/ffglass