Why?... well, the old paper vac bags didn't come with HEPA filters nor they did efficient filtration, not to mention the drawbacks of having a bad filter when you have a lot of pet or allergic to dust.
"We have the answer!", said the dust-bin
So, the manufactures came up with an elegant solution of creating a dust chamber with a filter (HEPA and few other variations) which filtered the air before it went into the chamber. It was a huge improvement. The HEPA filters not only did a superior filtration but were also capable of filtering out allergenic dust or other things the air usually consists. They also gave the opportunity to not to buy bags which were, at that time, somewhat a bit pricey as well.
But then then came the "issues"....
Everything seemed to be going well for the bagless vacs and for sometime the users, oh... they were really happy. But then they realized that, although now you don't have to worry about buying bag after bag and low quality filtration, but especially those who have a lots of pets realized that the HEPA or whatever the filters they had, to be replaced within 6-12 months!.
Not only that, if you have a lots of pets, then those pet hair would caught up in the filter thus making it less efficient and also resulting "less" cleaned air-flow to the motor which ends up (not always but a common issue even in these days) ultimately damaging if not burning the motor completely. And you'll have to remove the filter and clean it by hand, especially getting rid of those pet hair isn't that easy and filthy as well. And most importantly, if you're allergic to dust, etc... then with a bag-less vac you have to open the chamber and sometimes due to the air pressures inside the chamber, a "cloud" of dust would hit on your face (but to be honest, you don't see this much nowadays since there are now a lot of high quality dust-bins, still I see this from time to time in few products).
Even if your dust-bin, because of its high quality was able not to give such horrible issues, still you have to open the dust bin before emptying. So in general, as an allergy sufferer, with bag-less vacs, you'll always be more "exposed" to dust.
So, these main drawbacks again forced manufactured to look for another solution. And then they realized, they could actually re-modify the old vacuum bags and came up with a new bag that has an embedded HEPA filter inside it!. These bags were not only cheaper than the predecessors but were also highly efficient in filtering out materials such as dust-mites or other allergic materials and were more durable as well.
And with a vac bag, you can safely dispose the dust inside without having to open and empty. Although there are few models that "force" you to open the vacuum bag to see whether if it's full or not, but then again, there are models with a built in indicators which automatically notifies you as well. And when taken into account of the need for a filter to be replaced within a certain time-frame (6 months if you have pets...) and their higher cost, vacuum bags, in comparison are actually really cheaper!.
Although we now have washable filters, but then again, if you have allergies to dust, etc then washing a filter by hand (not to mention those filthy stuff stuck-ed... yikes) is not that pleasant either. So, as an ending note, let me brief the both good and bad aspect of vacuum bags vs bag-less "versions".
Bag-less/Dust Cup
*. Efficient filtration.
*. No need to buy bags.
*. Easy to empty but not the best option for an allergy sufferer.
*. If not properly taken care of, can easily damage the motor (very expensive!).
*. Have to replace within a certain time-frame (6 to 12 months cycle).
*. Higher cost.
Bagged Vacuums
*. Easy to remove and insert.
*. Comes (some) with built in indicators which helps to avoid opening to see if it's full or not (very useful).
*. Low cost.
*. Perfect for allergy sufferers (less "exposure" to dust).
*. Better protection for motors.
*. No need to wash.
*. Efficient and highly sealed.
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