It may feel gimmicky to you, but it's very functional. Each area of the breadcrumb bar has a distinct and useful function (jump up the hierarchy, list other folders at that hierarchy level, enter textbox mode). It's insanely useful in comparison to any other method I've seen.

Yes, this is a UI element Microsoft has nailed. It does exactly what I expect it to do.

The "Copy path" button just saves you a few keystrokes.