Power Sanding: Not Sure I'm Buying It

I mostly turn faceplates. As such, I got a sanding pad and set to learning to power sand my bowls. I got grits 120 - 400 and, up until recently, have always power sanded through those grits and then moved to hand sanding on the lathe, typically to 600 minimum.

I have, however, recently stopped power sanding. I just reached a point where I said "wait a minute... what am I accomplishing here?"

I was always under the impression that it was A: faster and more aggressive and B: creating some kind of orbital effect which helped eliminate sanding marks.

A: is obvious. It's more aggressive.

But B:... I just don't get it. Yes, it results in fewer CONCENTRIC sanding marks, but the marks are still there, they're just askew from round. If I just use little pieces of sandpaper in my hand, I can still get rid of the previous grit, and I still end up having to do a bit of sanding off of the lathe if I want to get that gallery-quality, zero sanding mark finish.

I know the tricks that people talk about. Sanding in the correct quadrant of the workpiece, keeping it moving around, only using the edge of the sanding pad, changing pads regularly, etc. etc.

So I've reluctantly determined that power sanding is worth neither the hype nor the money nor my time.

Someone drop some knowledge on me and prove me wrong.

Thanks in advance,
Luke