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March 28, 2006
Tail wagging dog
Ludo pointed me a few days ago to Dan Bricklin's article, When The Long Tail Wags The Dog. Dan looks at how the overall value of general purpose tools such as the spreadsheet or the telephone can outstrip that of special purpose tools, in particular when there exist highly personal, "must have" applications the general purpose tools can enable. The general purpose tool, "is of high value for a wider range," than its special purpose counterpart.
In agreeing with the general thesis, I'd underline that the general purpose tool has to be more like a telephone than a Swiss army knife. Dan alludes to this when he writes, "A general purpose tool that most people can't use easily or understand how to apply in new situations will be less popular." I know a number of writers who refuse to learn vi, and it's probably because gedit or whatever it is they use is more like a telephone than a Swiss army knife.
Posted by Mark at March 28, 2006 08:41 PM
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