I agree that the sound you get from singing and playing a guitar through a cheesy little battery-powered amp with an 8-inch speaker is usually not that great. But I do think there's a place for amplification, even for acoustic players like myself. If you have an ensemble, you can use it to adjust relative volumes to get a pleasing mix; most instruments out there are louder than an acoustic guitar (the instrument of choice for most of us, I would guess). If you're a solo guitar player, unless you're playing someplace really quiet, you're out of luck; if you're playing in a bar, or busking on a busy street corner or in a subway station, forget it. Without amplification, the only way to be heard in most places where music is played (indoors or out) is to bang on the guitar as hard as you can, and shout out the words. I'm not saying the "bang on the guitar/shout our the words" approach is without value, but I would hate to be limited to that. Fortunately, with the benefit of quality sound reinforcement, professionally set up and operated, we don't have to be.