I don't think it is an issue of complexity since in both text and graphics you can encapsulate parts into a hierarchy of sub-blocks. Having to break things up f

I don't think it is an issue of complexity since in both text and graphics you can encapsulate parts into a hierarchy of sub-blocks. Having to break things up from a single level into little pieces because of the screen size and letter/A4 paper is the problem. In the 1970s and 1980s I did many projects with huge schematics that you would spread out on large tables and focus on details while seeing the whole thing at the same time. It is an experience that can't be captured at all by a series of small pages, each with one to four boxes and lots of dangling labeled wires going to the other sheets. At that point you might as well just have a textual netlist, which made structural VHDL/Verilog become popular replacements for schematics. Perhaps VR/AR will bring back visual hardware design?