What do you consider to be a "normal size screen"? Since you mention trackpad I assume it's a laptop, so 13-15 inches? That was considered a normal size screen in the 90s, I don't think we should consider the compromise that laptops are to be the norm.
It all depends on your vision, doesn't it? 13 inches was a normal-size screen when we had five pieces of information on it at 640x480, but now that we have 4k screens jam packed with elements, it's no longer a good size.
I'm not sure saying something like "we used to send letters to each other a hundred years ago so we should be fine without mobiles" is such an ironclad argument.
I don't know what point you're trying to make, but my point was that laptop screens are small because they're the result of a compromise to make them portable, and we shouldn't consider them normal size. If you get an actual normal size monitor, which I would consider to be 24+ inches, node based editors work just fine.
Ah, I misunderstood and thought you were making the opposite point, sorry.