What's the deal with lube vs wax?

I've been a bike mech in and off for 15 years, and wax seems to be getting so much more popular (at least on reddit) the last 6 months or so.

Have there really been such breakthroughs in wax that it's either so much better as to obviate the inconvenience, or do I just have a small sample size who are dedicated to it?

Everything I've ever learned is that lube is quicker, easier, and more effective, though most of my training was in the north east of the USA.