My thinking is that chrom is rice because it's heavy... true chrome adds a lot of weight to a rim, which is why companies like volk don't offer actual chrome, they offer a chome-like paint finish... best of both worlds, and to me, a great look. Another alternative would be polished Aluminum.
It's fine for some luxo rim makers to offer it, because quite frankly, the kinds of cars they're putting the rims on have horsepower and torque in abundance.
Has anybody done a rice/bling comparison? I don't see much of a difference in the two. Both offer completely useless upgrades to a car, most of the time tacky, with little or no consideration given to the appropriateness of the add-on with respect to the vehicle to which it's being affixed. I guess bling would be a step up from rice because it CAN be good, but I think the bling stereo type is going way down hill.