Software Sucks
Sunday, February 17th, 2008
I don’t really know why software is generally crap. I mean, I’ve been developing software for a living for almost 15 years, and I still can’t figure it out. I’d say that there are 5-10 software applications out there that aren’t complete garbage.
On the one hand we’ve got software that can direct a missile to shoot down a satellite that’s 150 miles up, and on the other hand we’re stuck with software that detects a keyboard failure (incorrectly, of course, as there was no keyboard attached) and wants me to press a key…
I don’t understand why it’s seemingly impossible to design/develop a piece of software that isn’t predicated on the user adjusting to its “quirks”. I refuse to believe that I’m the only one that’s sick and tired of adjusting my workflow to meet some idiot’s best guess, or the only one that’s no longer interested in things like figuring how/why Ubuntu’s latest update no longer wants to automount my thumbdrive. I just don’t give a shit anymore - this is 2008 for crying out loud, not 1998 - I shouldn’t have to.
Why have our expectations sunk so low that we are no longer surprised or incensed by the vast suck that is almost every software package. Are we using computers so much these days that the shittiness has become a minor irritant that is taken for granted?