I think having a consistent convention for building patches is a good thing. Be it top-to-bottom like in vvvv or left-to-right like in Quartz or Grasshopper. But mixing it makes stuff harder to read imho.
Now what WOULD be great and help especially with large patches, would be to get zooming like in the Finder. Even better if it would be “smart”-zooming like in Grasshopper (ie. it fades out the names when zooming further out).
I still don’t understand the reason why there isn’t any zooming since the very first version, especially with nodes and inputs/outputs being like 2x2px small. It’s clearly possible technically, as illustrated by the Finder. It would also mean I could finally work in vvvv on my rMBP again, without needing a magnifying glass…
Oh well, one day…
Friday-ideas are a good thing, but best to leave them till monday to see if you still think they are great ;P