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Nice work. This isn't your fault, but it's inspiring a tangent. It's so strange, but I hate being so spoiled for choice. The main thing I miss about software

Nice work. This isn't your fault, but it's inspiring a tangent. It's so strange, but I hate being so spoiled for choice. The main thing I miss about software from 20 years ago is that there were rarely more than two or three answers to the "which software should I use?" question. By today's standards, the tools we had were subpar. But it was easier to tell the best of the "worst" from the worst of the best. I recall it being more of an issue with file size, stability, and RAM usage. The question of "does this have everything I need?" didn't often occur to us, because that seemed like a ludicrous proposition in a "hey, this thing is less than a meg to download!" environment. These days, without a substantial amount of (sometimes dubious at best) preliminary research, you don't get to find out if something meets your needs until you have invested enough time to feel somewhat trapped in the new ecosystem. Ultimately, I'm not saying things used to be better. The tools we have now are miraculous. It's just for those of us who got to experience web search before Google and web search after Google...we will always be searching for that next hit of finding a tool that is so dramatically and obviously better than its predecessors.

gregmac 5y ago
While I agree part of that was being that there were fewer options, there's also just more complexity these days. I consider things like: * Does this synchronize to other devices? * Does this support the device(s)/OS(es) I want to use it on? * Does this integrate to other applications I use? * Is this likely to contain malware, or could it in the future? * Does it require me running my own infrastructure, or can I pay someone else? * Am I comfortable with the extent I'll be locked into this ecosystem, if any? * Is it a worthwhile cost to me? Is the price likely to radically change in the future (after I'm locked in)? * If free, why? (Am I the product? Are there or will there be ads?) * If open source, is it likely to stay that way? Is there a community around it? Am I capable of maintaining this if I need to? * What new security threats does this open me up to? Granted, I don't always care about all of these (sometimes depending on answers to others), but it's a way bigger list than I'd have had 20 years ago.
- umangrathi 5y ago
  Thank you, its a great check list

gregmac 5y ago

While I agree part of that was being that there were fewer options, there's also just more complexity these days. I consider things like: * Does this synchronize to other devices? * Does this support the device(s)/OS(es) I want to use it on? * Does this integrate to other applications I use? * Is this likely to contain malware, or could it in the future? * Does it require me running my own infrastructure, or can I pay someone else? * Am I comfortable with the extent I'll be locked into this ecosystem, if any? * Is it a worthwhile cost to me? Is the price likely to radically change in the future (after I'm locked in)? * If free, why? (Am I the product? Are there or will there be ads?) * If open source, is it likely to stay that way? Is there a community around it? Am I capable of maintaining this if I need to? * What new security threats does this open me up to? Granted, I don't always care about all of these (sometimes depending on answers to others), but it's a way bigger list than I'd have had 20 years ago.

umangrathi 5y ago
Thank you, its a great check list