Simple Tools
Every day we are being told to buy more products that we are expected to use, consume, and throw away only to repeat the cycle of purchases and consumption. And one buys not only with money, but also with time and attention. This tells us that the modern regime of following the latest trends, in whatever scene or industry, is leading to a worldwide shift in one-off sales to subscriptions.
Tools, on the other hand, are meant to be learned and used over a long period of time. With a bit of know-how, one could even make tools for themselves. However, not every tool is built to be a tool. Some of them, especially in the software world, are made to be products in and of themselves, or allow for the commodification of their users. Imagine your newspaper reading you. Imagine your television watching you. Your pens keeping tabs of every stroke you write.
What Makes a good tool?
- Do one thing, and do it well
- Be made of easy-to-understand components.
- Use the least amount of resources to produce the most results.
Do one thing well
A tool is made in order to serve its function, and the clearer and more defined the scope of its function is, the better it tends to perform it. Defining the scope of a tool usually means narrowing down its scope to only cover one or two functions. It's also a given that if a tool doesn't do what it needs to do well, it needs to be replaced!
This leads to the other things on this list, a specialized tool would tend to have fewer components, making it easier to understand from first principles. And because its limited scope allows it to do its job well, it is able to do it with a minimal amount of resources (at least, if you know how to use the thing!)
Comprehensible Components
Entropy is universal. Stuff breaks.
When you understand how your tools work, you can respond and take appropriate measures to fix the problem. In my experience, at least, when confronted with a choice between complex freedom or simple restrictions, the shackles win out every time. Choosing to use and understand tools and their make-up allows the everyday person to have more agency , more choice in their own lives. Or at the very least, a small step toward that direction.
Multi-function tools tend to have more moving parts which adds to its overall complexity. This results in one needing to spend more time learning about how it works or delegate the task of maintaining, repairing or even using said tool to someone else who can spend the time. Take note that time is among the most precious resources one has, and that the more time one takes to learn all the intricacies of all the sub-functions of a given tool, the more time is taken away from actually using it to fulfill your own goals.
Resource Efficiency
Time. Material. Labor. Energy (mostly in the thermal and electric forms)
How much of the above does the tool consume in order to fulfill its task? Obviously if it uses the least amount of resources to achieve the most results, then its a great tool!
When it comes to software, considerations about memory and processing power usually translate into usage of time and energy. Multi-function or general-purpose software tend to use up more cycles in order to be able to handle the myriad applications it could be put towards, and most software built nowadays have no care for what they consume, betraying the privilege of their usually-Silicon Valley engineers.
It also needs no explanation of how incomprehensible tooling can become hideous time and labor sinks.