Thanks OP for exposing me to this, I haven't thought of it. That is why it is good to read older posts, alot of knowledge was shared then about bitcoin. When I was new in this forum, I used to visit older threads but now I am becoming somehow engaged and lazy.
This encoding helps user to identify the characters clearly, makes easier to read and use properly (which removes confusion while writing down physically with pen in paper......, in any place or reading later from that paper in any situation).
I have never seen anyone write down bitcoin addresses on paper.