> A lot of notation is the way it is because of history and inertia...
Less than you may think. Leibniz and other mathematicians spent years debating notational forms in mathematics before settling on what we have. See Florian Cajori's _A History of Mathematical Notations_.
So history and inertia by now, in other words. The point is not that people didn't think about them when they first came up with them, but that they are not generally regularly revised based on e.g. practical teaching experience or research.
Less than you may think. Leibniz and other mathematicians spent years debating notational forms in mathematics before settling on what we have. See Florian Cajori's _A History of Mathematical Notations_.