That’s true for Metrocards and paper single ride tickets, but no longer an issue for OMNY.
Most delays with OMNY seem to be due to the fact that people need to unlock their phone or pick a card because they don’t have express transit enabled.
MetroCard was definitely a confounding factor too, but isn’t it still the case that you have to manually push the turnstile within a certain time frame?
(idk, maybe I was just a clueless tourist who didn’t know how it worked :P)
To your latter point, perhaps the MTA should work together with Apple and Google to improve the experience.
Most delays with OMNY seem to be due to the fact that people need to unlock their phone or pick a card because they don’t have express transit enabled.