And alot of them are really proud of their directories too. $45 for basic listing on a directory page with a PR of 2 and a messy layout to boot. Not to mention that the listings are not relevant to each other as well.
well..... *stretches fingers* where do we start? directories first originated to allow ppl quick search for quality websites. If you are looking for sports equipment, for example, u can simply go to a good directory, search for the category 'shopping->sports'. Then it will tell u the list of good sites that have been reviewed and confirmed not to be spam or even worse some kind of hacker's site. Slowly, directories evolved to also play the role of validating, in one sense, the value of a site. As directories mature, and they gain more support by other sites, many sites will start putting the directory's links on their own sites creating backlinks. The higher the number of backlinks a directory has, the higher its PageRank. When a directory with a high PageRank puts a link of another site with low PageRank, Search Engines tend to like that as it tells them that a good site (the directory) likes the very new site and so Search Engines may put them higher on the search results when ppl search for specific terms. THat's a summary for u .....
There arent that many, its just seems that way because they all look the same and everyone on webmaster boards has one.