It's just different strategies, both valid. I have won matches using both of them. Your post seems incredibly biased and I'll tell you why:
You say how you will be undergeared if you take it slow. That's not true. You don't go to low level areas or stay at one area. You go to areas that aren't hot drops in that particular game and there are plenty mid-high level areas that are not looted in every match. You dropping in a hot zone and surviving doesn't guarantee you will be well geared. You will kill some squads with same gear you have at the very beginning. Meanwhile, perhaps some squad is looting an area on the other side of the map with bunch of purple stuff, undisturbed.
These things aren't as rigid as your post makes them to be.
Sure, I've lost matches due to passivity and teammates that make too many pauses etc. I also lost matches due to bloodthirsty jumpmasters that aren't exactly gods at fps games, to put it that way.
If you don't know how to play, however, I would advise dropping in a hot zone. Since there are no other modes of play, bots or a well structured training mode, this is a good way to get accelerated game experience, as time spent in a BR game doesn't relate to experience gained, as if it would in other FPS games, precisely due to plenty of downtime. But, if you are experienced, you can afford to drop to a remote, undisturbed location and not have many fights.
My first match ever in Apex was us finishing second and it was my first gunfight and I was completely confused and blind. I have quite an experience with fps games, played quake in tournaments, played fps games from when they were conceived. But, still, there's this sense of disorientation with every new title when you play it. After that, I decided to drop in hot zones and just work on my awareness, adaptation, functioning under pressure.
But, after I got comfortable with the game, now I can afford to drop to an uncontested location and take my time, knowing that when I meet another squad, I'll be completely ready and cool with it.
Both approaches are perfectly fine. Now, if you are absolutely sure you will sweep the floor with any opposition you meet in skulltown (like some of the best players do), then by all means, that's the best tactic for you personally and it makes a perfect sense in a very objective way. Shroud an his squad are absolutely correct in hot dropping, since each one of them can pretty much guarantee several kills even with low level gear against people with no gear or low level gear as well. But, is that really the best strategy for someone who isn't that much above the competition they meet?
