I was an instructor who had only seen a long hose configuration a few times in my life before I began my technical training. My attitude then was that the long hose was necessary for technical diving, but the standard octo was just fine for recreational diving. When I started tech and was diving doubles regularly, I got used to the long hose configuration, but I kept my old setup intact for recreational single tank diving.
Then I read a story about a woman who drowned in Europe. She went OOA and then went to her buddy for air. The octo had come loose from its retainer and had gotten stuck somewhere behind her buddy. They couldn't find it in time. I thought of all the times my octo had come out of its retainer during a dive. I thought of all the times I have seen other divers whose octos had come loose during a dive. I thought about how many times that I have to make sure that all octos are in place before having students do an alternate air exercise. I promptly switched my recreational set to the long hose configuration and have not looked back.
In order to work effectively, the octo retainer must be designed to release it easily. That means it will be prone to releasing on its own and not be available for the OOA diver. The bungied alternate, in contrast, is designed to stay in place, so it will likely be there when the donating diver needs it.
That's the primary reason I use the long hose for recreational diving now. Lynne (TSandM) lists some other reasons with which I agree.