This otherwise well thought out and thorough discussion does miss one salient point, however.
The Magus is the kid in the black leather jacket, who rides his motorcycle to school.
The Bard is a band/theater/choir geek.
I mean, I'm no one to judge - I was a D&D geek from the time I was in third grade - but that's just how it is. It's hard to be a bad-ass when your power depends, however briefly, on performance when the other guy uses raw, arcane power.
