I'll take better choices over more choices.
I know that it may sound like heresy to say that more software choice is
bad, but it's true. Software isn't like food, where you can get
tired of eating the same thing over and over. Software is more like a
marriage, where it will last a long time if you picked "the right
one".
But it's also unlike marriage, where we often have to date dozens of
people to find that perfect match and there is only one "right person"
for each of us.
If software were like that, then having lots of choices would be a
necessity. fortunately, with software we can all choose the same most
beautiful, smartest person software around. There is
no need to settle for second best.
Software of the same high quality can be installed onto anyone's
computer, so we can all have the "best choice".
As I see it, a few companies have made full featured, easy to use
software that most people are going to want to use. Like any supply and
demand situation, other developers see this and want to get in on the
profits. They make a knockoff. It's usually not as beautiful, but it
has one or two new features.
Then everyone acts surprised when it doesn't sell as well. They
lower the price, and it still doesn't make a big difference.
Make Something New
To these people I say, "Why don't you make something new?"
The truth is that new is harder. You have to be creative, risk more,
and there's no guarantee that one of the big guys won't steal your
idea. Instead they go for the lowest common denominator, another
software security package, DVD burner software, or bulk email program.
You get a hundred Ugly Bettys to choose from, and no Katherine Heigl
rises to the top.
Katherine Heigl, Ugly Betty, and Katey Sagal
This also highlights a major problem with the free/open source
software (foSS) crowd: much of what they are making is simply Ugly
Betty copies of commercial software. If you have to spend your time
making copies, can you at least all work together on the same model,
maybe that way you could at least get to the Katey Sagal level.
So Much Second-Rate Software
When I started to write this article, I thought I would research
some Windows software sites and compare the most popular programs to
their Mac equivalents. What I found were so many of these Ugly Bettys
that I didn't know where to begin. There are no great Mac-only security
programs with which to compare to PCs - no duh.
It's like PC people are cursed with choices we
don't have to make on the Mac.
It's like PC people are cursed with choices we don't have to make on
the Mac.
Then the next thing I found was that more programs are being made
for both Macs and Windows. One of the "most popular" programs was for
burner software, and it was made for both PC and Mac. (Don't these
people know that you can burn right from the Finder, and that we have
iMovie and iDVD with each new Mac? There's already a long time solution
with Toast from Roxio if you want to buy something.)
Then, in looking at Stuffit Expander, which was traditionally a
Mac-only program, it's now made for both platforms. (How they expect to
compete with WinZip I'll never understand.) PC developers are courting
the Mac crowd and vice-versa.
Where will the madness end, with a resurgence of video games for the
Mac?
Will all these choices make my computing experience better? Maybe a
little, but with so little innovation, it's mostly all the same.
To those few developers who try new ideas, I say good luck and God
bless. 
