When is the Analytic vs. Continental Distinction Useful?

That is the question we should be asking ourselves. To often the distinction comes up as if we were setting up picket lines, and when I name it, it's as if I gave the opening salvo in a war. Rather, I ask us to think when and how the distinction is useful rather than assume that we are trying to put people in boxes. Some would insist that it's not useful, e.g., some who insist that the difference is "sociological" by which they mean something akin to in/out-group behavior that we should do away with. But then, every time I have heard that said, the person insists that the ways of one side or another are "philosophy," and thereby restart the war in the name of ending it.

Really, when is the distinction useful? This is not to say that the distinction is just utility...