[Allocator2008]

The author is a fool. He is a fool who does not understand the free market. Users are cows. They should be treated as such. Cows do not know what they want. It is our job as programmers to give the cows what they need whether they like it or not. We the programmers know better than the cows who are the users. A programmer who does not understand that is a fool who should be weeded out of the free market. In a free market the cows can choose the software they want - if they don't like it, they are free to not buy it. But the programmer must do his best to save the cow (or the lemming) from himself. Users are fools who don't know what is best for them. Only we the programmers do. If they don't like our software they don't have to buy it. Such is the nature of the free market. Programmers should continue to write good software even if the user doesn't like it. Fools did not understand the buildings of Howard Roarke, nor do they understand the intricacies of software. So be it. The cows can go on mooing. The architects and programmers of the world will go on moving civilization forward.

[prospero]

I don't know if this is satire. I hope so, but either way it's emblematic of a common but absurd worldview.

Without empathy for your users, you will always make poor software. Users may not be able to perfectly articulate what they need, but neither are programmers able to infer what they need from first principles. If you treat your users like cows, what you create will not be fit for human consumption.

[twoz]

What of programmers/architects who are also users?

Moo back to you. :)