Generally agree with the point about there being a question of where the complexity lies and how much it’s in the tool or the interactions with the tool.
The hand tool example fell short for me, though, as thinking about my experience with hand tools, both powered and non-powered, I think of power tools as more complex to work with than non-powered ones. For example, I have to know a lot more about how a power drill works to use it safely and effectively than a traditional hand drill. A power drill represents a general increase in complexity for both the tool and the user, not a trade off. Of course, we like power drills because they give us more power: we can apply more force faster with less physical effort, so they act as force multipliers in a job and are worth the added general complexity.
Same applies to tools like stand mixers in the kitchen vs. spoons.
I think the clearest examples of the principal you’re addressing show up in software, where the trade off is often explicitly made about where complexity will live. A classic example might be between building software that “just does it for me” vs. giving the user a bunch of simpler software they can use to do the same thing if they combine them in the right ways.
I see what you mean, even though I haven’t had this sensation yet. Good to note, and I tend to agree for indiscriminate tasks like “Hammer in a nail”, “Somehow separate a board into two pieces”. But do you think this still holds if you explicitly state the task more precisely as “Make a straight cut”, “Puree something very finely”, “Remove a precise shape from the top layer of the wood”? I.e. associate a quality with the task?
Generally agree with the point about there being a question of where the complexity lies and how much it’s in the tool or the interactions with the tool.
The hand tool example fell short for me, though, as thinking about my experience with hand tools, both powered and non-powered, I think of power tools as more complex to work with than non-powered ones. For example, I have to know a lot more about how a power drill works to use it safely and effectively than a traditional hand drill. A power drill represents a general increase in complexity for both the tool and the user, not a trade off. Of course, we like power drills because they give us more power: we can apply more force faster with less physical effort, so they act as force multipliers in a job and are worth the added general complexity.
Same applies to tools like stand mixers in the kitchen vs. spoons.
I think the clearest examples of the principal you’re addressing show up in software, where the trade off is often explicitly made about where complexity will live. A classic example might be between building software that “just does it for me” vs. giving the user a bunch of simpler software they can use to do the same thing if they combine them in the right ways.
I see what you mean, even though I haven’t had this sensation yet. Good to note, and I tend to agree for indiscriminate tasks like “Hammer in a nail”, “Somehow separate a board into two pieces”. But do you think this still holds if you explicitly state the task more precisely as “Make a straight cut”, “Puree something very finely”, “Remove a precise shape from the top layer of the wood”? I.e. associate a quality with the task?