I agree; e.g. word processors, photo editing, etc. can have vast numbers of options and at some frequency of use having a bunch of little icons on the screen is a reasonable choice vs. alternative.  Having the traditional &quot;text, icons, or text and icons&quot; option seems like a good deal there defaulting to something with text.<p>I also set up my browser such that half of the tab bar is favicon-only bookmarks; I can very easily get to the few sites that I look at most days or want a reminder to look at.  I also use favicons to identify tabs.  I remove most of the standard browser icons in the interface and just leave the few I use regularly, so I can remember what they all do.<p>So maybe it is best to think of icons as visual interface optimization that is best performed by the user.  Especially for web sites or default application modes I agree with the author that there should be text involved most of the time.