people do breed them actually, I have seen breeders advertising long haired akitas in my local paper. There are no health faults associated with the long coat gene so I dont suppose the dogs will be any less akitas than the short coated ones. I find it odd that you say "thankfully" no one is breeding them? why should coat colour or length etc matter if someone just wants a dog as a pet?
not everyone wants a perfect show dog, in fact the majority of people who buy a puppy want a family pet. I dont see anything wrong with longcoated akitas or german shephereds etc but of course if you can take a rescue dog instead of buying apuppy then this is a great idea as there are thousands of dogs out there, all coat types and colours and lengths etc that need homes.

There is pictures of long coated akita's here:
http://www.stecal.com/longcoats.htm

i also think they are gorgeous.....love the pic of cova