What's the deal with "The Uncertain: Episode 1"?

I would actually argue that pre-orders hurt the customers in general, and the whole industry would be better if such a practice were to be eradicated.

As I said.. :P

you may have some valid points against it on the whole, but if you're not the sort who is interested in pre-ordering, it's not really something that was intended for your considerations in the first place.

Aaaaw come on, the distrust toward Early Access is not unusual nor niche 😜

Distrust- or more generally, caution- certainly isn't unusual for EA. But you, quote, stated that it was a "weird business practice". Weird is used to refer to something which is "very strange and unusual; unexpected or contrary to what is expected; unearthly or unnatural". I was just arguing that the business practice wasn't in any way strange or unusual, as it has become commonly accepted by the industry and most consumers.

What I am saying is that I instinctively trust more a product that comes out whole in 2018 than a product that is released in sections from 2016 to 2018.

As I said. Once the game is fully released (if, as you note, it ever is), then it'll end up in the same state as any other game. That'd be the time for you to consider giving it your attentions. Prior to that, the developers're just trying to maintain their development funds as best they can, and those players excited to see the project complete are willing to help support the developer (even if they also don't actually play the game until it's completed).
It's not a matter of trusting the game or the pros and cons of modern release approaches, but of waiting until something comes suited for your favored form of use. Think of it like VR- early adopters enjoyed supporting the development and taking what they could from early mechanics, while most people are still waiting for VR to become more fully developed before purchasing. Just because something is available for purchase, doesn't mean the assumption is that everyone'll rush to buy it- but it also doesn't mean that those who are purchasing it aren't doing so with full awareness of the current state of the project.

the combination of
extremely short gameplay,
delays in release (1 year instead of 3-4 months)
and arguably high price tag
seemed weird and did not personally inspire me much desire to purchase...

In other words, it's not intended to inspire you to purchase it [yet], but to appeal to a more.. eager crowd.
Though, like I noted, the high price tag became irrelevant as soon as the game became bundled. It's been easy to obtain cheaply since then. As such, from a more saavy consumer perspective, price is no longer a meaningful consideration for the game.

In any case, I think you're using 'weird' where you instead meant one of 'dubious', 'suspect', 'questionable', or- laugh- 'uncertain'. That's fine, of course: While none of the things you mentioned are especially unusual, taking a risk with an early release game is always something that can only be valuated from an individual perspective. If you think it's dubious as-is, then it is dubious- or at least, enough so that you shouldn't put any significant investment into it at the moment. That's really true for any uncertainty related to purchasing a game, however. Again, the game doesn't have to be directed toward a universal audience yet. That'll happen in time, so just wait and see how it turns out. In the meantime, be glad for those who are willing to gamble on the game [even if it's just through cheap bundle purchases] and thus help support its continued development. :)

(As a final consideration, do note that some of us don't put high value on gameplay length, so, as I tried to indicate earlier, that type of valuation is also very personal to your own considerations. That said, given the bundle price and self-contained nature of the episodes, the value-to-cost should be rather favorable now, and picking up a cheap copy of the game now may be worthwhile if only to see if you'll actually be interested in later episodes.)