Sometimes a DSLR and a bunch of lenses is just too much to carry around, even reducing it down to one lens, a zoom with a good range is still too big.
The opposite end of the spectrum would be a cell phone with a camera, but then they all have their downfalls.
Right in the middle there is the venerable point and shoot, from a few dollars to a few thousand. Top of the heap might probably be the Leica Q2 at close to $5000
For P&S cameras I shop around in the used market for them, I don't find them as durable, and they usually last me a year or so, so paying full price for me is tough.
in the real world if I am somewhere remote and want to take a photo of someone close up and they respond with, "err..." then the P&S comes out of the bag and it's just not as intimidating and 99% of the time I get a yes.
A good example of this was in the Bartang Valley, Tajikistan when I met a man and two of his kids were playing up and being funny, (two baseball caps), I asked if i could take a photo of his kids? He told me, "just one moment" I thought the time had passed, he shouted something and all his kids came out to be in the photo.
So now I have a couple of P&S cameras in my gear set up for when I am in that situation. As they aren't my main camera I have not gone crazy.
I have a Lumix SZ200 for when I need some range (24-360) but of course keeping it pocket sized
...and if I'm walking around at night time, where I don't want to be showing off a big camera, and in the need of a wider aperture I'll take the Sony Rx100 II, I specifically bought the version 2, because its obviously cheaper, less than half price, than the new version 7, has more shots per battery by around 30% and a decent 24-100mm lens
Another option I looked at was the Fujifilm X100S, larger APS-C-sensor, obviously so much better at 3.2 times larger sensor but almost double the weight of the Leica or Sony I decided against it.
So, if you weren't carrying your big camera what would be your choice for a P&S and still be able to get that shot?
...cause we all know its not the camera, but the photographer!