Why did Sony create Home ?

Ive been in the beta for a few weeks now and im really struggling to understand why Sony created a 3d world.

My initial reaction was WOW. I loved running around and seeing new places
in a virtual world. But the novelty quickly wore thin, with me asking
myself, why am I here ? I then thought about it and realized I was
here because of these main features home boasts.

1. Personalised profiles. Why not just expand on the trophy card idea, and include a proper about me page etc

2. Meet friends. Most people meet friends in online games.

3.Launch Games. Why not just create a game launching feature in the XMB,
where your friends can be in a party and you launch an online game.
Similar to the private chat feature.

4. Play Arcade games. Why not just create an online arcade in the  XMB ?

For me home makes seemingly easy tasks hard work, due to the fact you have
to make extra steps to do things. Eg. Launch a game. Why would I launch
a game from home when I can do it from the lobby in a game ? I would
of preferred a 2d Home integrated into the award winning XMB. The XMB
is the most easy to use interface in the world and I don't know why
they have complicated things by making a clunky 3d world.

This makes me wonder will the novelty of Home wear off ? And will users dump
home in favor of a more efficient and easy way to meet freinds and launch games, like the XMB or even an Xbox 360 ? Or will lack of updates to home and lack of content push users away ?