As display resolutions get higher, you get further away from needing pixel-level tweaks and hints, so it's arguable that the resolution-independent approach is

As display resolutions get higher, you get further away from needing pixel-level tweaks and hints, so it's arguable that the resolution-independent approach is better long-term. Tie yourself too closely to pixel sizes and you paint yourself into a corner so things like super-high-resolution displays (like retina) become a huge engineering problem. Back when Display PostScript was introduced, the idea of 300dpi monitors was almost ludicrous (300dpi being a standard laser printer back then), but here we are.