I think if you go back and re-read you'll see that this is missing to point slightly.
My comment was also missing the point to some extent because diameter has a much greater effect on pressure drop than length (but length does nevertheless matter). What this means is that even very short reductions in diameter can cause a large pressure drop (as in your washer example). However, I would still prefer to have a 1/2" line cnvert to 1/4" at the end rather than it be 1/4" for the entire distance.
But back to the pictures! Giant grabber arms for the kid in all of us are awesome.