Am I allowed to say this? (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Wednesday, November 08, 2017, 08:27 (2580 days ago) @ Cody Miller

DUDE. I don't think we're understanding each other. I don't think that many choices necessarily leads to dissatisfaction, and to the extent that the paradox of choice theory is invoked as some sort of law, we're probably in agreement. A preponderance of choices in itself isn't a predictor of dissatisfaction. I don't think it's bullshit, as you so delicately put it, because it's useful to describe the experience of having many choices that aren't distinctive and can't be easily chosen among. More importantly, it's a useful concept for creators to think about, in that they can ensure that the choices they offer are meaningful to their audience, and they can be cautious about not overwhelming their audience. I mean, ask Steve Jobs (if only we could). There was a man who understood the paradox of choice. Expert PC users spent decades lording their expertise over the rubes who didn't necessarily want to have to learn how to build a PC in order to use one. Steve Jobs sided with the rubes, and computing became ubiquitous in no small part because of him. There's a famous book about usability called Don't Make Me Think. A big part of usability is about avoiding the paradox of choice.

This I think falls more under meaningful choice. For Steve, computers were creative tools and the people who used them creative professionals (at least for most of Apple's life). Thus, many 'choices' were not meaningful to them regarding the technical aspects of the computer. They cared about what software it would run, and whether what they saw on the screen would look the same way on the page, the quality of the UI, etc. It's not the paradox of choice; it's getting rid of meaningless choices that get in the way of your creativity.

It's just as stupid to say that more choice is always bad as it is to say that more choice is always good, and when I invoke "the paradox of choice," I'm pushing back against the latter.

And by the way, everybody shit on the 2013 Mac Pros and the New Macbook Pros because they don't offer enough options. But your phone? It just has to do a few things well.

Oh, I'm not the guy who's going to say Apple always makes the best decisions in terms of how they limit our choices, but Jobs was pretty damn good about deciding what was essential and what wasn't. He did a much better job than Apple is doing currently, IMHO. I mean, taking away the home button on the iPhone feels idiotic to be, the wrong answer to the question, What Would Jobs Do? I reserve the right to change that opinion, though, because I've had to revise similar opinions in the past.