How adorably quaint, we've gone from trying to make things easier to use for centuries - and without which drive, btw, we wouldn't be here, because who needs a cotton gin or printing press or mechanical sewing machine or hell, electricity, in a world where the difficulty of a thing reflects its value to society - to making things hard again because somehow it's good for the soul.

It's fun to play with old or fancy cameras, but the only people who think that are those that already use the easy version (the common, ubiquitous, developed version - aka your iPhone) and often with familiarity and joy. People who specialize in an area are going to enjoy learning how to use more archaic, unusual, or just plain different tools as they progress in skill. You know why? Because when you learn something, they start you off with Playdoh. If you really like sculpting, though, you're going to feel the need to move past the beginner's set.

You'll note the author points out some things shouldn't be made harder. Why not? Because it would be terribly inconvenient for the author if they were. Toilets that are harder to use? TOTALLY not worth the build of character. But unintuitive, clunky, inefficient artifacts that look cool? They're definitely worth the challenge to learn.

Deliberately making things hard just raises the barrier to entry in a really snobby way.

There are lots of things out there that are hard and will always be that way. Swimming, push-ups, self discipline. Why don't you practice those hard things instead of arbitrarily making tangible artifacts more obtuse so you can seem cooler for knowing how to use them?

Clearly I'm cranky, but isn't the point of design to be unnoticeable? insomniasexx haven't I heard you talk about how good website design is subtle and intuitive because as soon as it's not, the audience is distracted from the content?

I'd love to hear how this author feels about public health systems, welfare, and concepts like guaranteed basic income. I suspect that he'd say that accepting such monetary aid robs people of the pleasure and satisfaction they'd derive from earning it themselves by trudging through the drudgery of a box-cubicle job.

In South Kensington, all street furniture and crossings have been removed and replaced with ambiguous regions where it isn’t clear who has right of way. Drivers and pedestrians snap out of their trances,

It's funny, I don't consider "paying closer attention" to really equate to a higher "difficulty" level. Drivers who are placed in unclear situations have to pay more attention to successfully navigate, but does that really make the actual act of driving any more difficult?

I once worked with a company whose software told banks how risky their global investments were. At the time, the bosses at these places were estimating risk by stitching together spreadsheets in haphazard ways. Their view of the world was partial, flawed and out of date. We made it instant, simple and beautiful. Why was it rejected? Because it stripped away all the difficulty.

I'm really suspicious of this statement.