> Given that you generally can't guess what any of those icons do, and
> have to hover over each one to find what you want, what's the point?
>
> A more realistic one might have the network cable tangled and knotted
> around lots of other cables.
Lol, I added some cable hooks on the back length of my desk to keep the rat's nest to a minimum.
I guess the idea with any icons is that they don't necessarily need to tell you their exact purpose at first glance, but once you hover over them to find their true purpose, the icons need to make enough sense so that you can remember their purpose without having to re-find it. A good example would be the icons on your browser, for menu, reload, back, etc. Once you know what they are then you're good to go, and lots of visible text labels would only add visual complexity.