What are the advantages of a card-centric user interface?

It's being reported that Google is moving to a "card-centric" redesign in the upcoming Android-5 O/S.

  • Is it more responsive?
  • Is it more intuitive (quicker to realize how to do things)?
  • Does it use less memory thus allowing for more functionalities to be implemented in the same footprint?
  • Are there other advantages?