One of the disadvantages of the electronic strip as compared to the paper strip is the loss of the clunk when the assistant puts the strip on the strip bay, the lack of feel and mental confirmation when placing the strip in the runway bay to denote runway occupied and most importantly, the increased "head down" time since data appears, is modified and disappears without any hint of noise etc, so the controller has to monitor the screen to see the changes. The enroute and approach controllers have a data display of their play area and so can concentrate on that, the Tower was the last to join the electronic linking which has many advantages over paper - if correctly designed. BUT putting all the data on screens inside the Tower, being subject to the sun and wide variations of light/dark ain't the right way. The Tower controller's job, like the VFR pilot, is to keep his/her head out of the office. The work is outside in the circuit or on the apron and manoeuvring area, not on a screen inside. We have designed the system to split the job now and not conjoin it.
There is an alternative way by placing the data in space outside overlying the airport. It is called a head up display and is unaffected by the sun or any level of light or lack of it. In the future, you will be able to see through fog. It ain't magic, but it needs a serious input from the controllers to carefully analyse their task in considerable detail.
Rant over
