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  • Rocketsouprocketsoup@mastodon.social
    Jun 25, 2026, 3:12 PM

    I started using PCs in the mid 90s, so much of my aesthetic is informed by apps of the era. Very passive and unopinionated. They were tools that waited for your instructions and did as they were told.

    Microsoft was probably the company responsible for the first apps I encountered that broke this, imposing someone else’s vision of what my experience should be, reconfiguring my computer without asking, popping up unwanted tips, making me go through guided flows with limited options.

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  • Rocketsouprocketsoup@mastodon.social
    Jun 25, 2026, 3:16 PM

    I don't see enough discussion of the cognitive load this adds. Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's because this stuff has been around for 30+ years and nobody remembers how it used to be.

    Software is a tool, and it's sometimes helpful to analogize to a physical hand tool. A hammer does nothing until you use it. It doesn't guide you through popular hammering flows. It doesn't advertize Hammer Pro. It doesn't require updates before use. It sits passively in your toolbox until you need it.

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  • Rocketsouprocketsoup@mastodon.social
    Jun 25, 2026, 3:19 PM

    Software used to be more like that. Open a word processor and start typing. It never does anything else unless you tell it to. It doesn't offer to write for you. It doesn't fix your typos unless you ask. It's reliable and constant, and your brain doesn't need to give it much thought.

    Modern software is a battle of wills against some experience designer somewhere. They have made assumptions about what you want to do (or what the business wants you to do), and you cannot appeal these decisions.

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  • Rocketsouprocketsoup@mastodon.social
    Jun 25, 2026, 3:22 PM

    I for one find this exhausting and distracting. I have a thing I want to do, I open the software I need for it with my task in mind, and I am immediately derailed by something else. "What's new." "Did you know about this feature?" "Take the tour." "New update since yesterday's update." "Check out these exciting new templates." "Try asking our new AI assistant a question!" "Sign into your account." ...Fuck what was I gonna do? Goddammit.

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