Instant-transfer versus pick-up at station crew meet-ups, are not mutually exclusive, but could compliement eachother
While I do think that the instant-telepresence is the right move, there is merit to the concept of having to picked-up at a station actually be present. I can't see how the telepresence idea totally negate the idea of having to go to a physical location and pick-up a crew member.
The two could co-exist just fine, not in the current state of the game mind you, but if Frontier expands on exploration and mining and actually explore the logistics of telepresence, then I could see some merit in having two different methods of joining up. One being the instant-transfer-telepresence, whatever you want to call it and the more permanent way of being picked-up at a station and actually being present on the ship.
Right now having both systems, wouldn't make sense, but with Space legs (Elite feet if you will) I could see some tangible differences that could both cater to both styles of play, while also respecting peoples time. I could easily see that Multi-crew gets expanded into having more roles, some that can be done via telepresence and some that require someone to be present on the ship.
The telepresence idea could also give way to some interesting combat choices. Imagine being hit with an EMP that makes it impossible for commanders that synced up via telepresence to actually do anything for a certain amount of time, leaving only the people that are actually present on the ship to be able to act, or taking out a comm relay that instantly disconnects telepresence commanders.
I know it seems like wishful thinking, but I am tired that people only see the negatives of these updates, instead of looking at the potentially interesting gameplay mechanics that it might spawn in the future. This is an exciting prospect, because there are still many things that can be done, but the skeleton sounds interesting, and the telepresence idea could have some interesting ramifications, if explored.
Call me naíve, I prefer to see it as being an optimist.
TL: DR: Instant-ship transfer and picking up commanders are not mutually exclusive ideas, if done correctly they could actually compliement eachother very nicely and cater to both styles of play.