"Rob McConachie" writes:
1. With segmented bowls, you can easily save time and money by
using flat wood and making it have a nice pattern or contrast or
whatever.

Plus, your stock won't warp or twist as you turn it, and you don't
have to worry as much about end grain because there isn't any :-)

2. It occurred to me that perhaps the challenge is not so much the
turning as it is the process to get it.

This is somewhat where my opinion stands. To me, the lathe is just
another tool in my shop; next to the bandsaw and table saw in fact,
across from the jointer and drill press. I have absolutely no desire
to take pride in the fact that I can take a huge chunk of greed tree
trunk and turn it into a priceless bowl-shaped piece of wood. Yes,
I've done it, but it's a technique I find little use for in my work.

Segmented turnings let you create a starting blank that's designed for
your desired result. It won't warp, hardly changes shape at all, and
is a lot easier (for me at least) to turn. As for pride, heck, anyone
can take ONE piece of wood and make a bowl from it, but how many can
take 157 pieces of wood and make a bowl from it? From an achievement
point of view, I think more effort has to go into a segmented bowl to
get comparable results to a single-piece bowl. It's easy to show the
grain in a one-piece bowl, but it's HARD to show off birds-eye maple
in a segmented turning! It takes a lot of time and effort to get each
piece just right to get the desired effect.

And if you just want a bowl, heck, all the grain's pretty much going
in the right direction anyway.

Did I mention I don't like turning end grain? ;-)

References:
http://www.delorie.com/wood/projects/segbowllegs/
http://www.delorie.com/wood/projects/turnings/