I lean towards the "discourage thieves" - these are valuable and easy to steal items. Having them locked in a way that makes them almost worthless for thieves is good.
As for owners - you need a passcode and that should get you by for almost everything. How often or easy is it to end up in a position where the passcode is not enough and you need the apple id password?
Well, I think we already have an example that it can happen where you can't get into it. I also am happy for you that you have older relatives who do not constantly forget their passwords/passcodes!
Epilogue: I found the original Apple ID and password in a very obvious place where I hadn't thought to look before.
My wife now has a new (to her) iPad Air 2.
Myevilplan is slowly coming together, even if it is taking up too many threads at this forum.
Excellent…