"So what prompted these non-stick pans to come into existence?"
The automatic dishwasher. We all got lazy and refuse to scour pots and pans with food stuck to them.
If people learned how to cook and clean their pots properly, we wouldn't even have this discussion. I'm an avid cook, both indoor and outdoor and I don't use a single nonstick pan.
All of mine are stainless steel with iron bases. Pretty easy to clean assuming you are minding what you are doing both during cooking and the cleanup phase.