Other people make a scene about it. Same with energy drinks. You won't get a health lecture if someone sees you drink a cup of coffee. Pop a pill? Prepare for unsolicited medical advice.

Also, they don't sell them at the grocery store or pharmacy I frequent.

tldr: it's too much of a hassle

Wondering:
How much of the stimulant effect of caffeine could be down to placebo? And what's the better placebo? A tiny pill or a bitter tasting elixir with a lengthy preparation ritual?

I do both. Coffee ritual because it's nice time spent. But caffeine pills for the actual alertness.

I've asked my partner the same question a few times. They will drink 3-4 espresso over the course of an hour in the morning, so they could surely take a 200 mg pill and just have 1 cuppa. They just don't want to. And also will not try, so they will never know if they like it.

Why would I go out of my way to purchase and swallow pills when I can just hit a button at work and have it spit out an espresso?

I don't like the taste but it's tolerable

I doubt anyone would list this as a reason, per se, but a common justification for the coffee/tea crowd is that these drinks are rich in antioxidants. The theory goes that stimulants cause oxidative stress, so you want all of the extra antioxidants that you can get.

Why eat vegetable ? Just take a pill ?

I don't just drink it for the caffeine but that's a big reason. I also like that it does hydrate you in the short term and also that combo helps suppress appetite. I only drink coffee in the morning and don't usually want to eat until lunch. This gives me everything I want in the beginning of the day.

In the absence of coffee I might take caffeine pills but as a stimulant it's pretty mild. My main source of stimulation comes from lisdexamfetamine.

I also like to have a nice drink to enjoy while I'm doing stuff. It's also kind of necessary to drink the water so that it offsets its diuretic effect (if any, but my sources on that have been inconsistent).

Never heard of them. I can also get coffee from the office break room, unlike pills

I do both! Tea as well.

Coffee I like when I’m sitting at a desk doing busywork for a long time. Tea I like for many reasons, it has more vitamins and minerals than coffee, more flavor diversity, and anti inflammatory properties.

Caffeine pills I take in the morning if I just want to get moving quickly, and I also use them as a pre-workout instead of those expensive powders.

I could just use (and have just used) pills instead of coffee, and it works just fine. However, they literally just hit different. The pills are all at once and then it wears off slowly, coffee lets you ramp up at any speed and maintain at any level. It’s mostly just preference, but being able to spread out the same amount of caffeine is very handy. I would be interested in slow-release caffeine pills, although I imagine these would be very dangerous for some people.

don't drink coffee, but I don't do the pills cause the caffeine release is way too fast. Nowadays I just use mints that slowly dissolve in your mouth.

Control of pacing. I drink my coffee over a period of time or else I get jittery.

Because I only drink very small amounts, rarely, and I have a tin of coffee I got years ago that I plan to continue using for more years. Caffeine pills would be harder to get the dose I want and it would be harder to obtain them than just making coffee, so there is no point.