I thought I read that one of the purposes for the new connectors was strain-relief related?

The old MagSafe connectors were a pain to use if you wanted to bend the cable towards the back and really seemed like an improvement (at least for my use). I admit I haven't tried them, though.

I doubt Apple will shift back to the normal power connectors unless they come up with a new design, though -- what's the point in going back?