Ci_lantro - you cracked me up! Though I do agree with Palimpsest that there are plenty of popular faucets with as many, or more, nooks and crannies. I also have seen people concerned that the typical pre-rinse faucets have the spiral metal encasing the hose, which might be hard to clean--and talk about your nooks and crannies! So this Brizo faucet may be in response to that. I too think that the faucet would look good in kitchens going for an industrial look. But it's not my taste. I found a video of the faucet in action, I think at the KBIS in January: 30-second video of Brizo articulating faucet

My attention was drawn back to this thread by someone who liked an earlier post here, and I wanted to update to say that I did move forward with a Brizo articulating faucet purchase in the end and received excellent pricing during a sale at Quality Bath online. The issue with the articulating faucets falling forward has been fixed, so unless you were to order really old stock from a warehouse somewhere, all the new faucets for the last few years feature the fixed joints, and of course, Brizo faucets come with Delta's lifetime warranty. I ordered two of the Brizo faucets in the Brilliance Stainless finish which is PVD stainless steel and among the most durable of finishes available for faucets on the market today. Anything with "Brilliance" in front of the name from Brizo means that it is PVD. Note that Brizo's chrome faucets are merely electroplated, so you'd need to choose a finish that specifies "Brilliance" to get the PVD finish. The articulating faucets from Brizo that feature covered hoses, which is the style I purchased, are all newer releases and so would have the fixed joints no matter where you ordered them. Quality Bath does not stock Brizo in house, so any order you placed from them would come directly from the factory. I'm really happy with this choice and look forward to many years of longevity from the Brizo articulating faucets.

"fused together" sounds bad. Maybe you need to start by replacing the shutoff valves? (I've found, more often than not, in old houses the shutoff valves are corroded and no longer functional. I just assume now tthey will need replacing and am pleasantly surprised when that turns out not to be the case.)

Not sure what your criteria is for "better". If you mean the actual quality of a faucet, that will depend on the brand as some brands are higher quality than other brands. I have a wide spread faucet in my bathroom and I like it very much both functionally and aesthetically. I guess there are some people who prefer one lever to control temperature but I don't find that to be an issue in my bathroom. In my kitchen I do have a one lever faucet because I don't want to need to use both hands to control the temperature in the kitchen since it isn't as functional.