I guess my frustration stems from 1) not understanding all I know, and 2) being of the opinion that the modem developers designed the critter for the ISP (and others of the like), and not for common users.
Surely, the color of the lights on my desk has no value to the ISP. Well, I suspect their remote analyses of my system is pegged to data other than light color, ergo is of no benefit to them.
Anecdotally, I (and presumably most others, including human factor engineers) find flashing lights most distracting, ergo their use in control centers, cockpits, etc.
So when I'm king, modem lights will have an Off/On switch, or be concealed behind a small door, or be user configureable either via software or tiny dip switches.
Strangely, my wife opines that my ascent to King is not near-term. Weird huh?
