I too find it weird why people seem to obsess over PR ( - got PR taken off me for selling text link ads - )
IMHO, Link selling is a big part of the reason people obsess over PR.
The higher the PR, the higher the link price, which in turn leads to the assumption that high PR means a more valuable website (and to a lesser extent, the SEO benefits that go with high PR).
Google removing PR distribution from WMT's for the reasons given in that thread is a joke. If they were serious, they would have gotten rid of the toolbar PR as well (or first).
Until they do, nothing will change.
Sharing my opinion
Cheers
James