@alyx The advantage is that devices don't come with a charger anymore and will potentially not include a cable either. That's not necessary since you likely already have one or more.
As for sharing cables, we certainly do - we have a central ”charging station” in the house where several devices (mobile phones, tablets, laptops) can be charged at once. We can't charge all devices at once, but the setup works pretty well for us. I also do my best to buy quality cables that last a long time.