Steve,
That is surprising. The only possible benefit I can think of from an installer's perspective is that tile might not be perfectly laid out on a backmesh requiring that it be cut out and placed correctly. But I'd rather deal with having to individually place a couple of tiles then have to fret over a whole plate of them going wonky while removing the paper and trying to clean out the grout lines.
Perhaps the stuff I got was the worst of the worst but even after wiping down the paper a number of times it still took too much force to get it off and the tile moved all around. The paper had a slightly waxy feel and didn't seem to soak up water very readily which may have contributed to this.
Also when working on a vertical surface there is the worry of sag. All in all I found it to be pretty nightmarish. After typing that post I went back and looked at it again and was disgusted enough with the work that I tore it all down. I wanted to get it off and cleaned up before I ended up ruining an $80 niche as well.
I think I'm going to have to try and remove that niche anyway because the back of it is just too flimsy. I don't recall if the instructions said to have a back plate on it or not, but I think it absolutely needs a sheet of plywood glued to the back. I have my fingers crossed that I can get it out without ruining it due to the glue around the sides.
Starting to get the feeling that I may not have a bathroom for a lonnnggg time.
Eric
