[OskarS]

> Doing the motion first lets you visually confirm the range before invoking the command. You also have the opportunity to adjust the range if you didn't get it quite right.

It should be noted here that Vim more or less works like this in visual mode. If you go "v <motion> <command>" instead of "<command> <motion>", you can visually confirm the range. I can see the argument that it should be the default, though I like the fact that <motion> alone in normal mode just moves you around without preparing for a command.