Interesting question Chris. Why? I think there's several points here. First is fashion - the format looks interesting just in it's dimensions, and is different to the usual 4:5 or 2:3 ratios that make up much of photography. Second, digital has made it relatively accessible - all you need is a P&S compact and the bundled software to have a go. Third, it gives a feel for the whole view, when done well.
It is certainly different from very wide angle images cropped to the appropriate dimensions - the altered perspective you mention always identifies these. This can be an interesting compositional device in the right circumstances, but often looks a bit forced to me. In theory, a panorama done with a 50-80mm lens (35mm format here) should give a 'normal' perspective, but when stitched together, give a much greater field of view - hence the novelty.
'Why, if at all?' I think I understand what you're getting at - badly applied technique for the sake of making a panorama without thought of composition, merit etc. I think panoramas are very hard to do well - compositionally there is so much width that it is very easy to let the eye wander around a bit aimlessly. I havent done very many panoramas - attached are a few. The mountain views were handheld on a compact and stitched together. The intention was to give a feeling of being on the summit with all the peaks around, a feel of space really. The people shot, taking on my sister-in-law's wedding, is a cropped down wide-angle shot. Slightly different as it is portrait orientation, but that was chosen partly to remove a lot of useess clutter, and partly to emphasise the verticals in the scene and the depth.
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