Bruce Sterling evangelizes the multitool in his Last Viridian Note: http://www.viridiandesign.org/2008_11_01_archive.html http://www.viridiandesign.org/2008_11_

Bruce Sterling evangelizes the multitool in his Last Viridian Note: http://www.viridiandesign.org/2008_11_01_archive.html http://www.viridiandesign.org/2008_11_01_archive.html "I strongly recommend that you carry a multitool. There are dozens of species of these remarkable devices now, and for good reason. Do not show them off in a beltpack, because this marks you as a poorly-socialized geek. Keep your multitool hidden in the same discreet way that you would any other set of keys. "That's because a multitool IS a set of keys. It's a set of possible creative interventions in your immediate material environment. That is why you want a multitool. They are empowering. "A multitool changes your perceptions of the world. Since you lack your previous untooled learned-helplessness, you will slowly find yourself becoming more capable and more observant. If you have pocket-scissors, you will notice loose threads; if you have a small knife you will notice bad packaging; if you have a file you will notice flashing, metallic burrs, and bad joinery. If you have tweezers you can help injured children, while if you have a pen, you will take notes. Tools in your space, saving your time. A multitool is a design education. "As a further important development, you will become known to your friends and colleagues as someone who is capable, useful and resourceful, rather than someone who is helpless, frustrated and visibly lacking in options. You should aspire to this better condition. "Do not lug around an enormous toolchest or a full set of post-earthquake gear unless you are Stewart Brand..." (the whole thing is well worth a read) I think his reasons for carrying one a very similar to the reasons you might want a general-purpose, high-performance, relatively popular, high level and concise programming language in your back pocket. For those odd times when you need to consume an API, or decompose a high-dimensional matrix, or simulate traffic flow. You know, at a bar or something. And of course, "do not lug around an enormous library of hand-rolled lisp macros unless you are Paul Graham."