Two things about the thread title change;
1. When you read the forum on an iPad like I do 90% of the time the URL goes off the screen when you scroll down. At my age I find it easy to forget the title.
2. I often read a post and wonder "how does that fit in with this subject" and want to check the thread title to confirm that I am reading the thread I intended to select. I use the first unread post feature most of the time and sometimes I select a different thread than I thought.