unless you are flying for some record or doing police surveillance work its pretty pointless
I don't agree. I tend to trim towards my maximum endurance speed when I'm up for a local bimble with no real goal in mind - it means I can get the cheapest flying for my hour between work and sunset when I'm not trying to go anywhere. Equally maximum range is useful for going somewhere cheaply/without refuelling. Obviously you don't go all the way if it results in the engine overheating or other damage, but if you don't know the figures how do even go part of the way there?
I'm sure there are also situations you could find yourself in where it's useful to know how to acheive maximum endurance. All I can think of at the moment are stuck above solid IMC (without IR/instruments) which is expected to clear, and lost at night - neither particularly likely, or situations I intend to put myself in, but that doesn't mean I don't want to know the figures just in case.