I like infos in a quaint kind of way, like postal entries and route sheets, all part of the charm. However I think that there is a growing number of members who are less than enamoured with them for a variety of reasons. I ride with some fellow club members who just want a good hard ride and aren't interested in validation but still pay to ride the event (as long as it's paypal of course).
It is a lot harder than it initially appears to get a route to meet the criteria without being excessively over distance. I could have had an info control on one event last year but decided a couple of controllers with cake, bananas and water would be a welcome addition for the riders and all appeared to approve especially as it was a hot day and bidons were getting low.
I think that you don't really want manned controls after the halfway point (as the controls are open for longer and longer requiring a greater commitment from the volunteers who are already giving up their time etc), I think people understand the need for infos but want easy questions (how far on a road sign rather than how many bricks in the wall opposite..)