I've got nothing new to add, but I'll chime in just as another voice...
For many years (I'm nearing 50) I insisted upon drop bars for essentially all of my bikes, largely for the reasons given by others:
- Hand-Position Options; and
- (Occasionally) Aerodynamic Positioning (in a hurry, perceived or otherwise or, perhaps, just wanting to reduce my profile when facing headwind).
However, about a year ago I wanted to pare down the bikes in my garage and decided to buy a more or less complete commuter bike. Initially I was turned off by how many more flat-bar equipped options there were, but ultimately I decided to not worry about it and got a Priority Continuum Onyx (it has flat bars).
I did indeed find that my wrists quickly started to feel uncomfortable, even over just a few miles, and I briefly regretted the switch to flat bars due to the reduced options for hand positions. But, I then adopted the common solution of simply adding on some bar ends, and those provided immediate relief. I spend most of my time holding onto those, but just as a with my drop-bar equipped bikes, I find I'm most comfortable when I change my hand position fairly frequently. Given that I use the bar ends most of the time, the only downside I've found is that it's slightly less convenient to reach the brake levers on my flat-bar bike.
For all-day riding I'd still be inclined to go with drop bars, but for my commutes of two to five miles at a time, the transition to flat bars has been quite easy.
All of that said, I still seems as though the bikes most prone to catch my eye for admiration do indeed have drop bars.