My understanding is that it's a crock pot that costs more and cooks faster. Based on the way that we use our crock pot, I don't see much benefit in our situation.
Your understanding is incorrect. It's an electric pressure cooker that can also be used as a crockpot, rice cooker, and other things.
If you see no benefit then don't buy it. I see no reason why you feel the need to argue with other people when they are completely satisfied with it.
+this. Compared to my old (on-stove) pressure cooker, my instant pot:
- Doesn't need me to be in the same room while I'm pressure cooking;
- Doesn't need me to be around to turn it off at the right time;
- Has a yogurt mode that's nice for ferment-y things. This is particularly useful in the winter because someone keeps his house at a temperature too low for things to ferment well.
Using the IP instead of my old pressure cooker is a very nice time-saver. I'm completely happy with it. And I mostly use it for simple stuff for which the old pressure cooker and rice cookers that it replaced were good at -- rice, beans, etc. The increased flexibility is great.
(I also like that it's electric and decently insulated -- I get extra gas stove space, but it remains energy-efficient. And I don't have to run the hood vent, which is better for both heating and AC performance.)
I love to cook, cook a lot, and am very philosophically opposed to most kitchen gadgets ("unitaskers", as Alton Brown would put it). But I'm very glad I got an IP. I use it weekly.