I think you're reaching. Justifying the answer you want rather than the answer that is.
No, graphs do not need come from text. I've frequently hand generated graphs as my means of recording experimental output. This is a common method when high precision is not needed (because your uncertainty level is the size of your markers). But that's true for graphs in general anyways.
Importantly, graphs are better at conveying the relationship between data, rather than information about a single point. (something something - Poincaré ;)
Besides, plots aren't the only types of graphs. Try network graphs.
Besides, graphs aren't the only visual communication of data.
I'll give you an even more obvious one: CAD. Sure, you can do that in text... but it takes much more room to do and magnitudes more time to interpret. So much so that everyone is going to retranslate it into a picture. Hell, I'll draw on paper before even pulling up the software and that's not uncommon.
No, graphs do not need come from text. I've frequently hand generated graphs as my means of recording experimental output. This is a common method when high precision is not needed (because your uncertainty level is the size of your markers). But that's true for graphs in general anyways.
Importantly, graphs are better at conveying the relationship between data, rather than information about a single point. (something something - Poincaré ;)
Besides, plots aren't the only types of graphs. Try network graphs.
Besides, graphs aren't the only visual communication of data.
I'll give you an even more obvious one: CAD. Sure, you can do that in text... but it takes much more room to do and magnitudes more time to interpret. So much so that everyone is going to retranslate it into a picture. Hell, I'll draw on paper before even pulling up the software and that's not uncommon.