Not hypocrisy...no, *really*

Okay, so I have precisely zero data to back my gut feeling that the ratio of software features vs. the options that have to be selected/specified during installation has been growing over the years. But it wouldn't surprise me, given the little "gotcha" the alpha-programmer, the alpha-admin and I ran into today. Fortunately, the top three Google results for the error message we received couldn't have pointed more emphatically at the ultimate fix had they been jumping up and down with their hair on fire. One mind-bending addition to a configuration file, and all was again well. Until something new broke. Sigh...

Feature-bloat--poorly-implemented at that--strikes again.

It's one thing to rant about feature bloat--I'm hardly bleeding-edge on that. All the same, one feature for installed software that I think should be as non-negotiable as actually shipping it is collecting usage statistics. Assuming that the user approves, of course--let's get that straight. But tallying usage statistics and periodically phoning them home to the Mother Ship, IMO, could save us (meaning the consumer) from sacrificing great gobs of hardware potential to bells that will never ring and whistles that will never tweet. I say "could" rather than "would" because, at a certain level in any organization, the reality distortion field evolves an immunity to even bell curves embedded in a PowerPoint slide.

But I can dream, can't I? And the dreaming is at least grounded in the reality that here are only so many checkboxes, drop-down lists, wizard screens, etc. that the consumer will tolerate. Eventually, the gulf between what you thought you were installing and the B-movie monstrosity that's monopolizing your hardware will become unsustainable. Right? Riiiiight?