I think that tipping is a part of our culture, and its value largely depends on the quality of the venue and the setting of the service encounter.  I feel it is good that employees should not have to depend on tips to compensate for poor wages, but on the other hand, the culture and and talented workers would lose something if tipping was prohibited.  But it is difficult to generalize about what is best, beyond an emphasis on being able to have choices between tipped and stable wage employment situations.