Since reading this i have been tryin to make a real effort to mix without touching the platter, and just using the pitch. I do agree that it is sometimes far more subtle than jogging a record back and forth, and it does sound good when u sway the tune ur mixing forward and back a bit.
Normally i do just use my hands to mix, and i make a conscious effort when bumping the record back or forward to do it at a time when it wont be so obvious, in between beats or sounds or whatever, and alot of the time its very hard to notice.

But would u say that we should all be striving to mix by pitch sliding alone?