design

I thought that the value of software comes for its reach, how much a person can accomplish using it. But that may have been a poor and disheartening way to view it. Poor in that it doesn't capture the true value of software and disheartening in that it forces a chase after more features and more complexity. Well designed software isn't really about what one _can_ accomplish while using it, but rather about how enjoyable it is for someone to use.

We build things in order to make us better at what we do, whether that be a saw to cut known materials more quickly or a piece of software to solve a well understood problem. This is well and good, but I can't help but wonder what it would have been like if the tools we created were not the best tools, and now we cannot escape the choices we have already made.