Difference between pagenumbering{} and renewcommand{thepage}{}

Command pagenumbering is defined like this

defpagenumbering#1{%
  globalc@page @ne gdefthepage{csname @#1endcsname
   c@page}}

So it reset page numbering and define thepage, pagenumbering{arabic} can be achieved with

setcounter{page}{1}
renewcommand{thepage}{arabic{page}}

Why in most cases we use the first method and we do not use the second form to redefine page numbering although it gives us more control and capabilities than the first ? is there disadvantages to use the second method ?