Mike Marlow wrote:

The only time it's "better" to have a neutral is when the appliance relies
on a 110V leg for such things as timers, etc. Returning back to the box
separately is meaningless. You are equally safe, equally beneficial,
equally proper by using the three wire configuration as depicted in the
second example.

By the same reasoning one could argue that there is no reason to have a
ground pin on a 120V appliance.

The separation of neutral and ground gives additional protection against
a fault in the neutral wiring, given that it's not practical for a
metal-bodied stove to be double-insulated.

Chris