[ekianjo]

Because the author of the post probably has a very narrow vision of what the term "hacker" means. And putting "every" and "should" in the same sentence makes it sound like it's some kind of universal advice worth gold or something.

I know 2 of the books mentioned and they are great books, but the poster should mention that the Design of Everyday Things is starting to be seriously dated. At least for the examples exposed - the principles do not age.

[discovr]

hey ekianjo. you're absolutely right in that 'design of everyday things'is an old book. It also has some examples that will probably never age. Out of the 5 books in the list, it has been the most useful of any design book (to me). Changed how I think about design.

[ekianjo]

I consider the design of everyday things a good book but I am not sure I would consider it a "must-have". I bought it because someone mentioned it on HN before in the same way ("Must-read") and while I found it insightful, most of the principles were not new to me and I found it poorly written (it could have been MUCH shorter and concise). Some pages are really fillers. That's also why I question its "universal" status, as it is far from being perfect (especially in the later chapters).