Im glad the article got people talking. my point in writing it was because I was reading an article on the "iceman" and was blown away that the earliest piece of human skin we have preserved had tattoos on it, it really put into perspective how long we have been doing this to ourselves and how funny it is that what we consider the "old days" was only a few decades in a span of at least 7000 years.
As usual, some folks feel the need to split off into camps and some folks have implied that Im saying that flash is "bad" or "custom" is better buit anyone who has seen my work knows I do both with equal respect and the same goes for most tattooers these days.
It was about keeping the "big picture" in mind, not about what sort of tattooing was "best".