It does work for any point you touch. It is a little redundant it you want to touch, but keep in mind it's only an option so it's not mandatory. Also, some might want to pan from one point to the next and see the difference. Or if you want to pan out to a "Re-Fuel" range, say 300 miles, then you can just pan out to that distance and see airports near that area, rather than having to tap the screen constantly to get the distance. Hopefully, this might allow you to see a particular use scenario. Thanks for the feedback.
Also, I know we have the location and how it pops up the context box on the development list in order to keep it from popping off screen.