New Camera, Fisheye and a Bob

Since I've complained here about my camera, I thought I should also show off my snazzy new one!

So, for your enjoyment, here is a picture of my cat, Bob:



Now, my new camera has a setting for what is called 'fish-eye' mode. It curves the image around so you get something that looks like this:



It was fun to take silly pictures of my cat and my kids in fish-eye mode, but honestly I'm not sure what it's actually for. There are only 6 preset settings for still photos on this camera, so dedicating one to fish-eye makes me feel like it must be for something. When I did a Google search on the topic, all I got was a lot of articles that say something like, "Look at all these weird pictures you can take using fish-eye mode!" Although I did learn that apparently it takes a special kind of lens to pull fish-eye off. So I'm curious all the more why my camera maker felt the need to add this special lens.

Does anyone know if there is a special purpose to the fish-eye lens? If it really is just there to take silly cat pictures, I can accept that. We all know the world needs more silly cat pictures after all. I'm just wondering.