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I don't think the average geek values simplicity all that much. We value power, flexibility, versatility. We value openness, interoperability, upgradeability. S

by swombat 14y ago

I don't think the average geek values simplicity all that much. We value power, flexibility, versatility. We value openness, interoperability, upgradeability. Simplicty? It's a distant 7th or 8th on the scale. That's why computers are the way they are, and we needed a company that really did value simplicity to create a new paradigm where users don't have to deal with libpng, winsock, antiviruses and other artifacts of the complexity that we, geeks, have wrought upon the world. Edit: I'd go as far as to suggest that this desire for simplicity is a relatively new phenomenon that is closely linked to the rise of the New Apple... I personally didn't give a damn about simplicity (or didn't know that I did) before I got myself a Mac in 2007 or so. Since then, I've progressively raised simplicity as a top priority. Some friends of mine who are hardcore geeks too and never moved to Mac still don't care about simplicity. They also rarely use the slew of web 2.0 "simple" SaaS apps that have evolved over the last few years... They're happy with complexity, it seems (as I used to be).

IsTom 14y ago
I think you're confusing two kind of 'simplicity'. 'Apple' simplicity is in my eyes about cutting away what is not needed and unifying everything else. What author is talking about is simplicity that lies in roots UNIX-philosophy. It's about having many simple tools that can be composed into something more complex. Perhaps my view on the world is twisted by the kind of programmers I know (mostly CS majors), but I almost everyone working on something bigger than 100 lines of code has simplicity high on their list of priorities. It makes everything easier to maintain, read and write.
- ryanmolden 14y ago
  Another problem is simplicity is inherently subjective. Almost no one thinks their code is overly complicated, that is an attribute to be applied to other people's code. People play lip service to the idea, and will sometimes claim their code is overly complex, in an almost self-deprecating way, but not much serious effort is put forth on fixing/avoiding that. Lots of comments disparaging other's failure to "get" their design or suggestions to RTFM, or worse, in open-source, RTFC, abound however.

by swombat 14y ago

IsTom 14y ago

I think you're confusing two kind of 'simplicity'. 'Apple' simplicity is in my eyes about cutting away what is not needed and unifying everything else. What author is talking about is simplicity that lies in roots UNIX-philosophy. It's about having many simple tools that can be composed into something more complex. Perhaps my view on the world is twisted by the kind of programmers I know (mostly CS majors), but I almost everyone working on something bigger than 100 lines of code has simplicity high on their list of priorities. It makes everything easier to maintain, read and write.

ryanmolden 14y ago
Another problem is simplicity is inherently subjective. Almost no one thinks their code is overly complicated, that is an attribute to be applied to other people's code. People play lip service to the idea, and will sometimes claim their code is overly complex, in an almost self-deprecating way, but not much serious effort is put forth on fixing/avoiding that. Lots of comments disparaging other's failure to "get" their design or suggestions to RTFM, or worse, in open-source, RTFC, abound however.