The biggest issue that I see with these arguments, both for and against, is that they want an all or nothing solution.
I believe that we should evolve with technology, but also retain the core concepts as we move along. I firmly believe CelNav should continue to be taught and tested on, but let’s get into this century. Why can’t we understand the basics of the this dark art and utilize the technology to make it practical. Take shots and enter them into an app. Get instant, very exact feedback on one of the most important parts of the equation. The practice might actually become enjoyable, and dare I say even less error prone than cranking out these forms by hand… you get a fat triangle, but you have no idea where you messed up. There’s a happy medium here. Same with chart plotting… teach the core and test on concepts, but make the practical application realistic.
If all else fails: Latitude is where you are lost, and longitude is how long you have been lost there…