"Easy to use" is most often the opposite of "simple, loose components". Building stuff out of simple components, means to break the problem space into multiple

"Easy to use" is most often the opposite of "simple, loose components". Building stuff out of simple components, means to break the problem space into multiple smaller parts. By definition, you'll have more components to deal with. It will also take more time to build something usable. Simplicity is actually hard. In the case of the AK-47, this is an actual example of simplifying the problem and getting the priorities straight. Such works are so rare because people don't think too much before starting to work on stuff.