Since I wrote my original little bit on the inconsistencies of configuring toolbars in Mac OS X, I found out about a very easy way to avoid the issue courtesy of the Coda Developer Zone. As it turns out, there’s a completely undiscoverable but powerful way to cycle through the various configurations of text and icons. Simply command-clicking the toolbar show/hide button (the oblong, colorless window control button at the top right of toolbar-bearing windows) will cycle through these configurations. Not exactly a system-wide preference, but still very very efficient.  

This brings up another issue: the paradox of choice. The fact that toolbars can be configured at all is the only reason that led me to be bothered about this issue in the first place. Had they been, as they often are, unconfigurable, I would have been less apt to complain about the given state and more likely accepted it as the only option. Happy as I am now, I disliked that for a long time. If you haven’t seen Barry Schwartz’s TED talk about the paradox of choice, I recommend you take a few minutes to check it out.