Citrix is not a panacea, to be sure. There are lots of things that could be done better. If people could just wrap their heads around web apps, I would be much happier.
The fishbones won in the wild against all competitors over a long period of time (decades), and in times when the data-ink ratio was at a premium (because it came from a pen, pushed by a doctor's fist). Now ink (computer printing) is cheap, but that is no reason at all to start reducing the data-ink ratio. It is a reason to look even harder at the practices of the past that used ink most efficiently. Mainly because that efficient use of ink almost universally leads to more data in the eye-span, which inherently leads to better thinking.
Maintaining a high data-ink ratio is probably Tufte's greatest explicit contribution to design. One of his great implicit lessons is to look to the past for examples of great use of ink: the more valuable ink was, the smarter it was used it.
And caliber of thought is the primary concern. Always.
The fishbones won in the wild against all competitors over a long period of time (decades), and in times when the data-ink ratio was at a premium (because it came from a pen, pushed by a doctor's fist). Now ink (computer printing) is cheap, but that is no reason at all to start reducing the data-ink ratio. It is a reason to look even harder at the practices of the past that used ink most efficiently. Mainly because that efficient use of ink almost universally leads to more data in the eye-span, which inherently leads to better thinking.
Maintaining a high data-ink ratio is probably Tufte's greatest explicit contribution to design. One of his great implicit lessons is to look to the past for examples of great use of ink: the more valuable ink was, the smarter it was used it.
And caliber of thought is the primary concern. Always.