Perhaps one issue is the immediacy of planning using moving maps and clever apps - in the modern world we get used to doing things quickly and then getting on with them..
That might be OK for everyday earth-bound life but means that pilots don't do any route study, just slap down waypoints to create the magenta line and launch.
With a paper map and pencil you are much more in touch with the terrain (if you use the right map) and there are more muted colours for the airspace which don't mask the topography so much.
I am happy to use either but apply the same techniques to electronic flight planning as I have always done with the 'old-fashioned' way.
Vertical Freedom - I guess you haven't been in a modern IFR twin - very much like an airliner and with all the same FMS usually.