What makes Tig so popular these days?

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This may be a dumb question, but.... I really don't know anything about TIG welding.  Yeah I could probably read up on it, but this seems like a really good way to get a conversation going.  And I don't have any books handy right now either.  I have Stick welded, and Mig welded, Gas welded, but never Tig welded.  It seems to be very popular these day's.  Does it have anything to do with the availability of the machines for the average consumer now?  I know that years ago, Mig was something you only found in a big Fab shop.  Portable 110 volt units were really new 17 years ago.  What are the advantages of Tig welding?  Other than No slag or spatter, and ability for aluminum welding,  I'vow done that with stick, and mig.  It sounds like it's a lot more work to Tig weld than it would be to just use a mig.      Like I said, it's dumb question but how you gonna know until you ask, right?  Looking forward to you replies.Lincoln 225 AC/DC, Hobart 140 Mig. Oxy/propane Victor torch.(2) Makita 5" angle grinders  one with zip disk, 14" chop saw.  and just about every other tool you can think of. Whoever has the most toys when he die's ..... Wins!
Reply:Tig allows you to control penetration independently of deposition.  Tig allows you vary the heat input during the weld.  Tig welds are generally nicer in appearance.  Tig allows you to join metals for which there are no reasonable electrodes or mig wires.  whodatIs it really worth getting that worked up over?
Reply:Tig is popular because of the Discovery Channel...
Reply:TIG is cool because I get to sit on my *ss alot.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Well- I have 2 stick machines, a spot  welder, an oxy-acetylene rig,  2 mig machines, a spoolmatic gun, and a miller xr push pull mig gun as well. And then, I have a couple of tig welders. And for just about every job, I reach for the tig. Sure, there are still times when I have to stick weld- usually on high strength applications over 1" in thickness. And there are times when I mig- when I am doing production quantities of stuff I dont care about cosmetics- usually stuff like jigs or fixtures, racks, carts. But any time I am going to sell something to a customer, chances are I am going to tig it. I have spent more years than you have probably been alive scraping, chiseling, filing, sanding, grinding, and wire brushing mig berries off of steel. Not to mention chipping slag off of beads. And I can tell you that no cleanup beats cleanup every day of the week. Once you get good at tig welding, its just about as fast as mig welding, BEFORE you start cleaning up, which takes a lot longer.And I can tig weld dissimilar metals together- any combo of mild steel, stainless, cast iron, brass, bronze or copper- try that with your mig.I can tig braze without melting the parent metal. I can tig braze 24 ga. to 1" round. Of course, I can tig stainless, copper, bronze, aluminum, and miles of mild steel.And I only have to buy a few rods to do it, instead of a new 25lb roll of each metal.I can tig weld thin stuff with no filler rod- cant do that with mig- for some reason it doesnt work very well when I take out the wire.I can tig weld on job sites, with just a little fireproof blanket- recently we tig welded some ornamental stuff in a completely finished new library- on top of carpet, right next to painted metal surfaces and highly finished wood railings, and the fire alarm and smoke detectors were on the whole time. No smoke, no spatter, no damage- more money for me, as I didnt have to pay for any mistakes. I also did some tig welding last month in an 80 foot manlift, 6 stories up on the face of a brand new office building. Thousands and thousands of dollars of brand new tinted mirrored glass windows a few feet away. Spatter on those babies would have cost me as much as a new truck. But with the tig, no problemo, man. Clean, neat, quiet, and no cleanup- what more do you want?Its true, when I first started welding 25 years ago, there was no choice- 3500 bucks for a new tig welder. But now there are lots of cool smaller units available, as well as tiny inverters- not cheap, but they rule. 110volt shoulder strap inverter tig welders smaller than a boombox, and a scratch start torch, and a little aluminum tank of argon, and I can tig anywhere.
Reply:Wow... Thanks for the info.  Guess I'm going to go look for a Tig machine one day.  Probably not until I get my shop built though.    I have friend who told me today, that he just bought one himself.   So I'm going to go check it out.  thanks again for the insight.Lincoln 225 AC/DC, Hobart 140 Mig. Oxy/propane Victor torch.(2) Makita 5" angle grinders  one with zip disk, 14" chop saw.  and just about every other tool you can think of. Whoever has the most toys when he die's ..... Wins!
Reply:I make hardware and ornamental ironwork using traditional techniques like forging at the anvil but I also use a TIG to join some of the elements together.  With good fitup, I can flow two sides together with no filler rod and the weld is completed - no cleanup or further labor.  It is as fast as a MIG for me since less metal is often better for art pieces that must be joined cleanly.Get it hot and hit it hard...