Peopleware Papers: Notes on the Human Side of Software, The

Chapter 35. Complexity and Creeping Featurism

I hate moving. I hate upgrading software. I hate the transition to a new machine. In principle, migrating to the next platform or version is simple and efficient; in practice, it throws my normally somewhat disheveled everyday existence into extended and unfathomable chaos. Most of all, however, I hate learning a new word processor.

As a purveyor of ideas, the two pieces of software closest to me are my graphics package and my word processor. These tools are my constant companions. I want them to be nice to me and to get along with each other. They define the limits of what I can do in expressing myself in words and pictures, and they put ceilings on my productivity. They enable me to leap tall in-boxes ...