why consumer software gets worse, not better, over time

It was Aral Balkan that put in strongest words that we should avoid the term “Users” when developing free software. That the term “User” is indicative of the dependency relationship that Big Tech and surveillance capitalism has created between people and the technology they use. One that it not dissimilar of a “drug addict doing drugs” i.e. a user of drugs. The argument is that abstracting people as “Users” in a way de-humanizes them. The thought is that by trying to avoid the term we ar...

In flow, the experience is rich and deep, and helps users be productive and highly creative.