Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Software Evolution and Darwin
Author: William Crim Posted: 5/3/2000; 2:19:33 PM Topic: Software Evolution and Darwin Msg #: 16925 (In response to 16919) Prev/Next: 16924 / 16926
Since software is based on the mind of the human animal, evolution of software will tend towards what people and businesses tend towards in real life.The average person will delight in form over substance, they will judge a program by its feature list. Ask people what they want in a program, then ask them what they actually use and you will see a massive disconnect. They will choose whiz-bang over chug-chug almost every time. They complain that Word is bloated, then they go, "Ohh gee, the new Word has integration with my joystick!" and pony up hundreds of dollars to upgrade a whole office suite they hardly ever use.
Companies on the otherhand will work differently. When it comes to their own money, they will tend to stick to what works. There has been a spasm of FUD flowing from the large-scale software firms in the direction of business. "Upgrade or your competition will DESTROY you!" However companies won't have the cash to shell out forever, and will "standardize" on something. I had a friend who worked at GTE in 1996. She said there was a company-wide initiative to upgrade users from DOS/WP/Symphony to Win3.11. :-) It isn't an accident that the major UNIX vendors are still supporting machines and OSs made in the 80s and early 90s. Companies(at least those not in the computer/tech industry) tend to stick with what works. Their current fascination with new and cool will end pretty quick.
The great thing about the Internet, which wasn't really possible in the old days, is that whose who WANT mainly content can congregate in the few places that have content, and leave the whiz-bangers alone with their features. It is also tends to be the substance-over-form people who make the standards and software that make the Internet go. So long as the transports and formats are flexible enough, the whiz-bangers won't intrude too much on the chug-chugers.
I guess I am losing my faith in humanity's ability to perform critical thinking tasks. :-) The Internet is a nearly-anonymous, nearly-consequence-free environment where people will gain their eternal dream of instant gratification. Any software/site that helps them succeed in that goal, will be popular(see Napster, instant stock trades, 10,000 picture porn archives, and home-loans in 10 minutes!) If it is flashy, even better(see WinAmp/Sonique skins, Java stock charts, frames/javascript windows, Aqua/iMac)
I see no reason to expect people who have routinely rejected substance(see tabloid Newspapers, inane TV programs, politicians who lie without consequence) to all of a sudden have a yearning for content. The more intelligent, thoughtful, critical thinking person definatly will demand more. However they are few and far between, it only seems otherwise because these same people tend to congregate together on-line. :-)
My rant ends here. More later perhaps. :-P
This page was archived on 6/13/2001; 4:55:03 PM.
© Copyright 1998-2001 UserLand Software, Inc.