I rather enjoyed them - but I'm a masochist who did a PhD in aerospace engineering as a part time hobby.
But you're absolutely right, the level of information required has it's roots rather more in 1930s military flight training than it does in any necessary level for operating aeroplanes. I personally use the material I learned a lot and still have all the notes on the shelf - but I work as an aviation boffin who flies occasionally, and the flying part of my identity rarely uses the material.
With the odd exception to be fair - FP&P & GNAV I'd not change but air-law and operational procedures would be much more sensible open book since who in their right mind would trust to memory for any of that material in the real world?
The only faintly sound justification I've seen for the JAA approach is that it's an effective pre-screener to ensure that you've got the determination and mental capacity to tackle professional flight training and then the joys of an operating company ops manual. But, that's a fairly tenuous justification and doesn't really hold water.
G