You were not scammed or lost your bitcoin because you did not have a hardware wallet; rather, you lost them because you were careless with your private keys and you were not security conscious. Many people here do not own a hardware wallet and have no idea how to use one, yet they have never complained about being compromised.
True indeed but that doesn't change the fact that HW must be the choice. Hot wallets are risky; no matter what security measures you are applying, you can still make mistakes. While with HW one can still get hacked, but that one step reduces the chances of getting compromised to almost zero. BTW, it's not hard to use a HW; everyone can use them as they are easy peasy.
But, if you frequently make transactions and need quick access to your funds, a software wallet may be more suitable for me than a hardware wallet.
Have you ever used a HW? I don't see why would a software wallet be better than HW for regular transactions. I guess it's a myth along with the same as HW is for a big amount. Most of us don't use Bitcoin as a hedge; we invest to make some profit. If you have $1000 worth of BTC right now, don't you think it can be $5000 within a few months? Don't we invest with that hope? If you don't secure your $1000 today, you are putting a risk in your potential $5000, man. C'mon.