We used the 1 minute combat round, and it never did bother me. It's a product of D&D's wargame roots. That single (or even multiple) attack didn't simulate a single blow. It is an abstract throw, not unlike one die throw for a squadron of tanks that meets an enemy unit on the hex board. One attack throw resloved the overall outcome of several hours of WWII combat. Likewise, one attack throw (or a couple) abstractly resolved what happened during the melee combat.
If you think about it, hit points actually make more sense when you're talking about one minute combat rounds and abstract dice throws.
But, there's always contradictions, right? If you look closely at 1E D&D, you'll see that the melee rounds are abstract and one minute long. But, for distance weapons, like bows, the attack throw actually simulated a single attack! So, D&D incorporated both abstract attacks and simulationist attacks.
One attack throw for a character wielding a longsword would represent all sorts of lunges and feints and parries....and several attacks, during that one minute of fighting.
But, for a bow, that one attack throw represented what the archer did with that single arrow--a pure simulation of letting loose one arrow.
Spells,too, were on the "simulationist" scale rather than the "abstract" scale used for melee.
1E is an interesting beast. To this day, the game does not fail to intrigue me. With all its worts, it's still one of my favorite editions of the game.
(Probably because of its worts!)