The Cuisinart appliance was (I believe) the first food processor for home use. There had been others available only for professional chefs, but that was the first for us everyday home cooks. It was at first considered a luxury item, and was very expensive. Only rich folks could afford them. Soon other appliance manufacturers began making similar devices, so that the price came down, and many of us could now afford one of these devices. Since Cuisinart used to be the only manufacturer of food processors for home use, many of us used "Cuisinart" as a generic term, much like "Kleenex" and "Magic Marker" are (incorrectly) used. (If I could have found the ASCII code for "registered trademark," I would have used it in the previous sentence.)
If you've ever skinned your knuckles trying to shred potatoes or carrots by hand, you can appreciate the attraction for the processor for those of us who have. (Papa Elf loves to have fried, shredded potatoes, incorrectly called "hash browns" with his eggs every Sunday.)
The food processor also purees foods, chops up nuts or other solid foods, slices just about anything that is sliceable, and is in general, a pretty handy gadget to have in your kitchen. For those of us with a "thing" for peanut butter or other nut butters, it makes an excellent kind that won't separate when stored*. You can even duplicate Nutella with it. And Cuisinart USED to be the best of the lot. The best ones now are way out of The Elves' price range! So I plug along with a processor that is pretty good, but not the best.