Ok ... I'll bite.
Why are so many people swapping over to manual locking hubs?
They are nice, though.
EDIT: I'm an idiot. Google and Wikipedia work wonders.
Reasons (yes I see you checked google and wikipedia):
1) More reliable than auto hubs albeit it's not a reason for a gen II which has no hub locks.
2) Can switch to unlocked which also unlocks the outer axles from the hub. This allows the hubs to turn without turning the inner/outer axles and cv joints which to reduces wear on them.
3) Kinda winging it on this one but... I can disconnect a wheel/hub to isolate it from the rest of the drive train (in the unlikely event that I suffer some kind of damage there).
4) Cause they're cool looking LOL.