You didn't address the very basic issue: Why can't your team(s) have proper meetings? People coming on time, or at least not waiting for people to come on time? Why can't they maintain the discipline of not ratholing and going off into technical issues?
As I'm not necessarily in favor of standups, nor has anyone responding to you claimed to be, you're simply blowing hot air complaining about the purpose behind standups as opposed to addressing the comments they are making.
Not respecting people's time (frequently late for a meeting, meeting organizers making the on-time people wait for the off-time ones, etc), not being able to communicate well (cannot summarize, or meanders to off topic stuff) are all qualities of poor workers and poor teams. Such behavior is quite common, in my experience, but these are legitimate reasons not to work with them. Once you hit some minimal level of technical ability, the other skills matter at least as much in a team environment.
There are plenty of pointless rituals most people have to do in their life and work. Amongst those things, being able to handle a simple 15 minute meeting a day is one of the easiest. When people have trouble with it, it's a sign of a behavioral problem. Either some team members do not have the minimum bar of discipline/communication, or they are intentionally acting this way as some sort of civil disobedience against scrum. There are usually appropriate ways to make change - in most cases such behavior is just a sign of immaturity. Of course, there is such a thing as poor management, and sometimes such behavior is the only realistic way. But then again - it's still a good turn off for me not to work there.
As I said in another comment: Following scrum does a good job of exposing problems. And everything you describe sounds like problems in the team or the management.
As I'm not necessarily in favor of standups, nor has anyone responding to you claimed to be, you're simply blowing hot air complaining about the purpose behind standups as opposed to addressing the comments they are making.
Not respecting people's time (frequently late for a meeting, meeting organizers making the on-time people wait for the off-time ones, etc), not being able to communicate well (cannot summarize, or meanders to off topic stuff) are all qualities of poor workers and poor teams. Such behavior is quite common, in my experience, but these are legitimate reasons not to work with them. Once you hit some minimal level of technical ability, the other skills matter at least as much in a team environment.
There are plenty of pointless rituals most people have to do in their life and work. Amongst those things, being able to handle a simple 15 minute meeting a day is one of the easiest. When people have trouble with it, it's a sign of a behavioral problem. Either some team members do not have the minimum bar of discipline/communication, or they are intentionally acting this way as some sort of civil disobedience against scrum. There are usually appropriate ways to make change - in most cases such behavior is just a sign of immaturity. Of course, there is such a thing as poor management, and sometimes such behavior is the only realistic way. But then again - it's still a good turn off for me not to work there.
As I said in another comment: Following scrum does a good job of exposing problems. And everything you describe sounds like problems in the team or the management.