I agree with all five of your final points, Mark. We differ, though, in our interpretations of what those points imply.
To me, the system is useless. Either a photo was obviously printed within x years of being taken, or else, no one really knows. In the first instance, all one needs say is "here's a photo of Tony Lazzeri taken just before the 1926 World Series, and news-service dated 28 September 1926." In the second instance there's nothing to say, except, perhaps, "it was likely printed between 1926 and 1930," or something similar. The problem is that no one is saying anything like that. What they are saying is "it's a type I." Unfortunately, all your "Point 3" photos--those that the system cannot , with any accuracy, apply to--are nonetheless being classified, and such classification is meaningless.
Judge an item on what it is, what you can learn about it, and the joy it affords you.
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