Software stagnation

It’s perhaps counterintuitive to talk of stagnation during the buzz of WWDC, but there’s a strong case to made that we’re in an era of terrible software.

Riccardo Mori’s A brief reflection on Mac software stagnation is a good place to start and defies easily being excerpted:

As a Mac power user and observer, I’m not optimistic. I’m not saying we won’t see great Mac apps in the future, don’t get me wrong. But I have the feeling that they’ll be the notable exception in a software landscape that will share all the worst traits of iOS — an overabundance of mediocre-to-crappy apps, the same race to the subscription model, the lack of very sophisticated software applications that can tackle more than a handful of tasks. All this on increasingly powerful Macs that could run an entire power plant alone… if only they had the right software.

For earlier essays that are still equally relevant, check out Craig Mod’s Getting the iPad to Pro and Fast Software, the Best Software.