Not to derail the thread any more-- but I never said it was wrong, I said it came down to personal preference. Some people are more efficient with hotkeys, while others are more efficient with the manipulator.
On that note I agree. I personally like keyboard shortcuts. Every program has there own set of shortcuts, but I definitely like blender’s set of KB shortcuts more. For my personal workflow I use the universal manipulator for placement of any scene objects quickly and I use short keys while modeling. Like you said, personal preference.
I apologize if it seemed like I was referring to you. Not my intention. I was making a general statement about folks who trash the interface/UI/workflow because it doesn’t follow convention, and I used your quote because it referenced the manipulator. The second paragraph was not intended to call you out personally, so again, I am sorry if that is how you took it.