Instead of designing clever tricks to get around what the software cannot do, wouldn’t we be better off with software that can actually do those things?

I’m just saying.

And yes, I realize there are some things software cannot do, or cannot be made to do easily, and that often programs are designed with different functions and/or users in mind, functions and users which may not share the same needs, and therefore not everything can be shoehorned into one single package. However, when a piece of software fails fairly consistently in the performance of certain necessary tasks, when it actually makes other tasks more difficult, is itself difficult to learn and a little ugly to boot, isn’t it maybe time to re-evaluate the entire package and find a better solution?

Again, I’m just saying. This was born out of using a very specific software package at work this afternoon and learning about the added litany of steps that would be necessary because the software could do a but couldn’t do b, and so on.

Update: We just had a small office Halloween party. Someone came as the software program. Everyone agreed it was the scariest costume we’d seen. That should tell you something.