Erm, do you think that the Harrier would have that ridiculously huge engine/puffer jets/wingtip wheels/ and still be subsonic and low endurance/range/weapon load etc if it were not for the fact that it is also a massive compromise?
And suggesting that the harrier looks right entitles you to a white stick.
Awesome in many ways, the harrier is still probably the most compromised aircraft we have ever had.
The fact that it worked at all just shows how brilliantly the designers did their job.
Compromised as it might be it still was/is better as a concept than the current F35B.
that massive , mostly useless during its flight, vertical liftfan is a bad solution for an already difficult problem.
Much like in comparison with the Balzac Mirage and the early yak's before, the Harrier was the most elegant solution towards a workeable VTOL fighter which is even useable at higher speeds.
Like you said , a testimony of the brilliance of its engineers.
The fact that the F35B more or less works is also a testimony of the brilliance of the LM engineers but it still remains a bad solution to an already difficult problem.
For the STOVL/VTOL JSF it would've been better if they went with the X32 concept (nozzles iso extra lift-fan), much lighter, more compact with less potential for CoG issues and still with the possibility of loading a very large amount of Fuel and weapons.
Hindsight is always 20/20