liudr:
I like the diagram from aarondc. It is not schematic. I consider it a "realistic rendering of an actual circuit". This fit my idea: ICs with many pins are bad because it's very hard to make out of what is going on. Otherwise (like what aarondc produced) it can be good.
Thanks. As a very visually oriented person, I find that sort of diagram helpful. Eventually schematics will be helpful also, but there are things to learn there, whereas the real life representation is plug n play.