Because of this,
simplification is now the latest trend in UX design changes, across all of the major platforms, which is also attracting its share of resistance and ire.
We live in an interesting time, one in which the previous era in computing intersects with the next, and the most difficult adaptation of end-user computing habits must take place.
The GUI, almost magical in its design, has made computing accessible to all and completely pervasive in our society, but with it brings a curse of resistance to change and a complacency that comes from taking ease of use for granted.
After 40 years of personal computing, the end user has become a simpleton, no longer requiring specialized knowledge to operate the system. In effect, he's been transformed into a cranky idiot who becomes angry when even the smallest change requiring learning new habits is introduced.
Resistance to this change is inevitable. But we all have to go through it eventually, this cranky idiot included.
Has the explosion in GUIs over the last 40 years made change and end-user acceptance more and more difficult through each successive generation? Talk back and let me know.