[Dalewyn]

The tech industry seems to have a very severe, very deep, very wide disconnect with common men about what exactly computers and the software that run on them are.

Ask a techie and they'll probably say it's something to be maintained and updated, to be replaced on a given lifecycle because new things demand it, that it's an achievement of technology or something. A computer to the tech industry is the end to a means.

Ask a common man and they'll probably say it's a tool to get stuff done. That 'puter in the corner working happily for the past 50 years? It's great, gets the work done and puts food on the table at night like any other tool (also 50 years old) on their 50 years old workbench. A computer to common men is a means to an end.

I hope some day the tech industry comes to terms with this disconnect. The users would absolutely be better off for it.

[schlauerfox]

Microsoft seems suicidally determined to ruin the office experience for users especially Outlook with the fisher price toy design that is popular now.

[dumbotron]

This isn't just a tech thing. People redo their kitchens and bathrooms every so often because they start looking dated.

[usrnm]

Kitchen and bathroom are physical things and do deteriorate with time and use. Software not so much

[kapep]

Even brand new kitchens get replaced if new owners don't like the style. Just like perfectly painted walls get repainted in different colors all the time or like some people move around furniture to get a "new room feeling".

Also I would say software may not deteriorate on its own, but in the context of other software/technologies moving forward it does deteriorate. For example many old games kind of have deteriorated because they don't easily run on modern OS any more.

[Dalewyn]

I think the point here is that nobody puts their kitchen sink inside a cupboard and installs their oven-stove upside down in the name of innovation and challenge during a remodeling.

[executesorder66]

Tech debt isn't real. It can't hurt you. /s