The discussion on this answer to the question "How can I use Google's new imageless button?" Has prompted this question.
Google seems to think that going imageless is good for some reason, but from the comments cited, I fail to see the advantage. Is it worth it to send dozens of lines of HTML and who knows how much CSS to render these imageless buttons, rather than simply load another image, especially when techniques like CSS sprites are available?
When would this technique be preferred? The other question asks how it can be done, but I want to know why it should be done.