Domains need to be registered annually and DNS servers are needed to route traffic to them. But using an IP directly, you don’t need to worry about domain registration issues that can brick your systems, and you don’t have to worry about DNS providers knowing about your traffic (or maintaining your own private dns).

If it’s not a user trying in a memorable domain, an IP serves much better.

The comparison was to cash, not credit cards. The government doesn’t know who I hand cash to.

They’ll never come back because studios will never release new movies on them.

Piracy is coming back strong, but I don’t personally see myself going back to burning DVDs instead of buying HDD/SSDs.