[dagw]

But Visual Basic (and VBA) revolutionized the way people used computers and was one the main killer apps on Windows. Most people, given a choice between an ugly app that does exactly what they need and a beautiful app that doesn't do exactly what they need, will choose the ugly app. And what better way to make sure an app does exactly what you need than to write it yourself.

Sure Visual Basic programs written by non-programmers are often a monstrosity in every way and most of us no doubt have our share of horror stories. But the point is that most of those monstrous apps actually work and solve a real world problem, and had they sat around and waited for a programmer to come along and solve their problem correctly they'd probably never get their program.