Fair point, although there are still a fair few poles being used out there which dont use an alignment system, so you would never align the spine anyway? Right?
My old Venom which doesnt appear to have a spine visible on the carbon wrap of the sections also has more sections than the more recent longer mandrel poles.
The numbers on the joints therefore help when looking for your number 5, rather than a number 6, which look similar in size.
Daiwa poles for example already have these, so the stickers could be used to replace those which have worn off or numbers have faded.
Wouldnt quite call them ‘chocolate teapot’ but I know what you mean.
Cheers
Andy