Calculators/wikis/mod are tools to build on to existing functionality; to expand upon it. I take no issue with this; and full support it.
That is the same as this:
What ED has, are tools created solely because the game does not have them already.
and in fact this:
The fact that I have to leave the game to find a ship I want to buy because there is no in-game method of doing so is testament to poor game design.
is what actually happens in A LOT of games, and in none of them I have seen people argue that it's a shortcoming of the game's design. In games like Skyrim, WoW, and a lot of others, if you want to find some specific thing to buy it or obtain it in other way, you will also generally look for that information on the internet. There is no qualitative difference. There likely is a quantitative difference, nonetheless. Playing ED without 3rd party tools and resources like EDMC, EDDB, EDSM, etc. is a lot tougher than playing most other games that have similar kinds of resources and tools, and doing it without them.
The fact that I have to leave the game to find optimal trade routes because the in-game method is usually outdated thanks to delayed communications*, is testament to poor game design.
The fact that players clearly WANT to forge clans/guilds in the game and need an external tool because decision-makers are Frontier don't want it is testament to a disconnect between developer, and customer.
My point is this: it all depends on what goals the design has. If the developer wants its users to create 3rd party stuff for the game, then their design has been successful, it is a good design for that goal. What "good game design" means depends on what the game designer's goals are with it. And there are many reasons why the developers might want (or not want) that kind of outcome, not least of of them might be the strong communities that form around the game when people create and maintain that kind of resources and tools (like it were some kind of loyalty marketing strategy). But I don't know the developers' intentions, so I would not hurry to any conclusions about their doing things well or not in that regards.
I mean, it would be like saying that you find that a horror movie is bad because you got scared while watching it, and that that is bad moviemaking because you don't like for movies to scare you, when in fact that would be an example of good moviemaking (a horror movie's goal is for you to get scared).
So, the thing is that the design might not me bad, but in fact working as intended. And if it's not, then you can say it's a bad design. A wholly different thing is if you like the kind of game that expects the community to "fill in the lacking functionality". That would be a valid critique too, but that would be a more subjective one, on the lines of "the essence of the series is missing in this game because of this design that almost forces players to generate tools and content in order to be able to properly play the game", or something similar.
* On a more lore-focused topic: I cannot fathom how a civilisation can exist, let alone thrive, when it can't even make a real-time call to another station in the same system.
Yes, I have noticed similar stuff too. No autopilot in the 3300s? Are you kidding me? There are lots of things like these that make little sense in-lore, and have no real in-lore explanation. The simple real-life explanation is that most of those things would break the game experience, but it's weird that there is no lore explanation at least for the most obvious ones.
EDIT:
also this:
Well, I love having external tools.
.) I can have the tool on another computer or screen
.) they don't interfere with the game interface (complex menus)
.) and last but not least, they let the tool developers inspire the game developers
I'll be happy when the API gets online and fully functional again. EDMC and its plugins are very nice to have for me.