I have to admit, this is something that turned me off about 4e initially. I've pretty much gotten over it, but dang, I miss my Chaotic Good.
I agree with the design philosophy of removing alignment from the mechanics of the gameworld. That was a great decision. But why can't it remain as part of the fluff? It was such an interesting little philosophical question to ponder... what separates Lawful Good from Chaotic Good? How would a Lawful Good paladin react to, say, the situation in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure? Would he side with Antonio, or recommend mercy?
Also, I feel like the concept of 'alignment' was one of the few things that intrigued people who were otherwise turned off by D&D. People who weren't even interested in D&D still enjoyed talking about alignment with me, you know, the classic "what alignment is Batman?" sort of questions. I hope if there is ever a 5th edition that they re-introduce alignment, but as purely a construct of fluff, not crunch. It just feels like an important part of D&D's "mystique" to me, and I frankly miss it, warts and all.