org-mode without the huge collection of emacs lisp code to generate agendas, export to HTML, LaTeX, etc., navigate rapidly, search, etc. isn't really of much use.
It works great as a simple markdown. I have over a dozen org files on github that I use for notes.
You're making that common mistake to assume that if someone isn't using all the power features of a tool then you should use a simpler tool. I have a tool with room to grow. For example:
I don't know about a renaissance, but there's a good metaphor there. The Renaissance was built on the idea that 15th century hipsters could trust wisdom from the Classical age...they decided that Plato and Seneca and Thucydides and Vitruvius were not idiots. There's a parallel in the idea that Emacs must be good to have survived forty years without built in clip-art and borders. Sublime and Atom simply don't have the man-years of development and quality hackers scratching their own itches.
The reason to switch is trust that Emacs really is an amazing cup of Kool-aid, but with the understanding that learning it is a long term project more akin to playing the saxaphone than the kazoo.
