I sold my Rocket Appartamento in February. I wrote a post about it that was thoughtful and thorough and, in retrospect, wrong on one specific point. What I said: the espresso ritual was heavier than the day needed. What I discovered six months later: I missed it not for the ritual but for the drink. Espresso at a cafe is not a substitute for espresso at home, because at home you are drinking your own coffee, on your own timeline, in silence.
I bought a smaller machine — a used Gaggia Classic Pro, a fraction of the price of the Rocket — and I made peace with the fact that I would produce worse espresso than the professional shop three blocks away, but that this was not the point. The point was to have a good enough shot of my own beans, on my own kitchen counter, at 6:47 in the morning before the world starts.
The lesson generalises: sometimes you have to give something up completely to find out what you were actually getting from it. The Rocket was overkill for me. Zero espresso was too little. The Gaggia is exactly right. I still make one V60 per day too, and now the espresso feels like an occasion rather than an obligation. It took the whole detour to figure out.