[Shank]

On a basic level, a CLI with color adds visual information that's easily seen at a glance. In this example blog post, the author shows how adding color to `df` resulted in an immediate visual distinction between mostly empty and mostly occupied space, which would normally require scanning a column to find.

Icons? It's easier to show information in a smaller area when you can use the spot a character would take with an emoji or equivalent.

[kjs3]

I get that. So bold, italics and half-tone could be good enough for many/most use cases, and icons are just eye candy, right?