Way back when, contact coils were a way to extract flavor from your juice, especially when using high VG juices. This is what contact coils were devised for.
Huge clouds were just becoming popular so VG>>PG juice became more prevalent, but folks still wanted to extract the best taste from the juice. Higher coil temp, once heated to stasis with the VG, was a way to extract the flavor.
Keep in mind that not long ago if you went sub-ohm, you were a daredevil, and below 0.5 ohm, a flippin' lunatic. So to get higher heat from the coil without throwing current at it, contact coils were a tool. Still are, if you're above ~1 ohm. And you don't mind the spin up time.
Now, people are finding that contact coils simply work better with other more exotic set ups, and use them for reasons other than just raising coil temp.
Personally, when hurling current, I spread those babies out, use the surface area to advantage, and try to get the best of both worlds. IMHO.
And what papergoblin says is Word. Too many people try to play with esoterica before they grasp enough of the fundamentals to consistently build a good, simple coil and working wick.