The Impact of the 'Programmers' vs. 'Users' Distinction on Agency and the Success of Spreadsheets
By
todsacerdoti
11mo ago· 4 min readenOpinion
95/100
Golden Brown
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Hot, fresh, and worth queueing round the block for.
Score95TypeopinionSentimentneutral
Summary
The article discusses the negative impact of the distinction between 'programmers' and 'users' on agency, highlighting the success of spreadsheets due to their immediate feedback system. It emphasizes the concept of malleable software and vine-like systems in Excel.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThe modern distinction between 'programmers' and 'users' is evil and destroys agency.
Spreadsheets are hugely successful. Felienne Hermans attributes this success to their immediate feedback system and continuous deployment model.
Rik calls Excel 'malleable software' and the resulting programs 'vine-like systems'.
writing programs should be no harder than writing a resume
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