Coding Horror complains about the terrors of bloat.
I think that there is a parallel here with cars (albeit in the ultrafast timescales of IT). Cars keep getting bigger and bigger: I think know the current VW Polo is larger than the 1st generation Golf we used to own. So with software: if the free app you used to enjoy has added too many features for your liking (in part in order to justify some paid version), you just bail to the next simpler thing (e.g. Media Player->Media Player Classic, iTunes->foobar2k).
There is another reason and it has to do with systems (be it ecosystems, companies, software etc.). Things “teleologically” tend to grow more complex and in this complexity lies their downfall. In order to combat this one must be extremely disciplined (example: Google front page gatekeeper).
A more fruitful approach is to “underbuild” the surface (fast changing) features and focus on a solid architechture that will support end-user contributions (e.g. a “Shearing Layers” approach to Software -see also my paper in the references).
References
- Papantoniou, B., Marmaras, N. (under review). Transcending the Task-Artefact Cycle through evolvable design: The concept of shearing layers.
- Salthe, S. N. (1993). Development and Evolution: Complexity and Change in Biology. Cambridge: MA: MIT Press.
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