Plenty of good points! No, I suppose the engineers didn't build these trucks such that we could access the nooks and crannies 45 years later. And yes, it's a good thing I don't have carpet yet. Ha! I'd bet that could make it a real pain to access the top cover.
I'm an engineer...degreed but not working in the field. So I suppose that as I work on vehicles, I'm sorta predisposed to look for ways to simplify access to components.
Take an in-tank fuel pump for example: I have only upon rare occasion seen one where there was access to the pump through a body panel. Many require dropping the fuel tank to access the pump. Never understood that.
A girl once called me and asked if I could change the turn signal bulb in her Pontiac Sunbird. I said yeah, bring the car over. I though it would be a matter of two screws holding the lens in place...a couple minutes and done.
But as it turned out, it was necessary to remove the bumper to change the signal bulb. Wow.
The high hump tunnel is a massive access to some components that greatly simplify some things. Clutch and trans work become much more easily done as even the BH bolts are accessible through that passage.
From my own perspective, when I look at the high hump, I see a nice service access panel that was almost convenient, had the designers just gone one step further. One step.
Yes, carpeting may be a bit different but since I like the outlines of our vehicles features, I wouldn't be bothered by a carpeted access panel (perhaps with a well designed trim piece), that delineates the feature.