I’m all for optimising usability but there comes a point where one over optimises. While I love the app-orientated design of Android and iOS (ie you share data

I’m all for optimising usability but there comes a point where one over optimises. While I love the app-orientated design of Android and iOS (ie you share data between apps rather than apps sharing a file system), they are effectively toy OSs for toy devices. Sure some people are hugely productive on them these days but they’re the exception rather than the norm. Whereas I depend on a file system to organise my data. In fact the file system is directly interpreted as name spacing in a number of different programming languages. I get that most people are either too lazy or too technologically inept to own a computer but this race to the bottom to support everyone who doesn’t give a crap has to end somewhere. You see it with Windows UI in Win11 removing popular options so the designers can streamline the UI. You see it with this article too. Some people are always going to struggle simply because they are forced to use a computer day in and day out rather than them wanting to use it. But designing a unified system pandering for them but servicing everyone just makes the experience shit for those of us how genuinely know how to use a computer and depend on these features. To use a car analogy (because for some reason people love comparing cars to computers…) I have no issue with track cars being sold without air con, a radio, etc because they’re a toy not a tool. So you optimise for that single purpose: racing on the track. But I sure as hell want the kitchen sink thrown into my family car. I sometimes wonder if the problem isn’t computers but rather our assumption that everyone should be able to use a computer without training. If your job depends on using a file system correctly then you should be trained on that in exactly the same way that you’re taught how to use any of the specialist applications. In fact pre-computers, companies did exactly that with training their staff in how the filing system works!