When was the last time software made you smile?
If you are anything like me, it’s probably easier to recall when it made you grimace. The ten minutes this morning, for example, that I spent trying to get my headphones to talk to my phone (Cambridge Audio: lovely hardware, ropey software). Or the labyrinth of dark patterns that was unsubscribing from the FT a few days ago.
But software that made me smile?
Probably much of it these days is invisible. We don’t use software exclusively like we used to. We going shopping, or drive cars or listen to music and we are using software without thinking about it.
Occasionally, though. Proper broad smiles emerge. Like when I discovered Respiro recently, a software synthesiser designed for digital saxophones that has unleashed the Yamaha’s hardware I’ve owned for nearly 30 years.
Today I’m going back into the world of building software. Not all of it will necessarily bring smiles. But some will. And if we can avoid grimaces and promote more smiles. Well, that will be lovely.
mmitII 