My Centaur and EBD pops are so sensitive I can probably go to the bathroom and come back before the ball gets back into play
The 'purpose' of them back in the day was likley just to create some animation and life to the ball. Playfields didn't have a ton of features back then so pops made the game more lively.
Today they are probably a lot less necessary, but they've sorta become part of the fabric of pinball.
I like when they are part of a mode or when a game uses a faeture like super jets/super pops. I love getting pops to a million points on IJ and then starting a 6 ball Well of Souls multi-ball.