Real Progress

I've got nothing signficant to say at the moment, except that I happened across The Secret of Success: Suck Less, and yes, I think he's on to something.  I've had similar experiences using software that used to be great but then just accrues a pile of new useless-to-me features that I never intend to use until it gets to that point where it just sucks.  

I think this happens a lot with the "shiny thing" method of product development.  Too often, people can be easily distracted by something shiny and new.  If those people are driving a software product forward, that can lead to a loss of focus on the core goodness that makes people want it.  It's especially bad when shiny features distract effort away from quality improvements (as Maz says in the referenced post).  Of course, some whizbang features are great additions to the software . . . especially when your users have told you it would suck a lot less if you'd implement them. :)

Oh, and while you're there, give Simplicity and Security a read, too.