Pros: Macro photography. Tripod photography. Waist level photography, allows better perspective control for wide angle and a perspective akin to the twin-lens Rolliflex style of film photography. Discreet photography (no.... ooohhh look an SLR... what brand?). Better rapport with casual subjects (camera is not a barrier that hides your face and subject relaxes much more). All instances where direct line of sight to camera view screen is compromised... above the heads in crowds, over/under/around the edges of things difficult or dangerous to deal with. No need to shoot blind. No need to take lessons in Yoga to take the best shot.
Multiple electrical failure points: I don’t accept this unless the design is fundamentally flawed, we have lived in a world full of laptops, flip/slide mobile phones and articulated displays for a lot of years now. The electrical problems you are alluding to existed, once, long ago. Your argument in this regard is akin to saying a six cylinder car has more chances of having problems in its engine than a four cylinder car. It is factually correct but technology has made the difference so negligible as to be irrelevant.
Weather sealing: Can you take that ruggedized weather-sealed pro camera body, dunk it in a swimming pool for sixty seconds and have it come out alive? No. Yet there are cameras that can do exactly that. So why are not all cameras waterproof? Because one camera cannot do everything well and to do certain things means compromising other things. The weather sealing issues are the swivel hinge mechanism. I would worry FAR more about a lens that was not internal focus+zoom.
Ruggedness: Impact it with the swivel screen out you risk more damage. Impact it with the swivel screen folded closed you have less chance of damage.
Size: Both Nikon and Canon have made their SLR's much larger than they need to be from an engineering standpoint, thats crystal clear. However the inroads made into the marketplace of small cameras is recognised by Canon and you can expect Canon SLR cameras to shrink in future be it with or without articulated screens.
'Gadget X' is better than an articulated screen: Those gadgets do a better job than an articulated screen in some situations and less so in others. Even if your argument were 100% true it would still be akin to saying the DVORAK keyboard is better than a QWERTY keyboard.... 99.999% of people would never see it or even be aware of it... in general people would only be aware of the benefit if it was placed in their hands directly for 'free'.
