John C. Dvorak: Windows8 should drop the tiles or will fail

Err, the tiles support icons too. A lot of tiles on Windows Phone apps are just icons. Eg see some at http://www.wp7applist.com/

Tiles are better because you can get to see updates on things like weather etc. without having to open the app. Example, you can have a Fedex tracker app that updates when the item status changes, but without bothering you with a full fledged notification.