I love my iron

I do. It glides easily over my clothes, leaving finely straightened surfaces. It has a big water tank and is very efficient, with one load usually being enough for a whole load of clothes. It simply makes ironing easy, almost… fun.

The tools we use for daily mundane tasks are crucial. Unless they’re top-of-the-line in terms of performance and usability, we’ll hate them and do anything to avoid using them. We won’t use the bug tracker if it takes ten actions to report a simple issue. We won’t use the project management suite if it doesn’t provide our current tasks at a glance. And we sure won’t branch our code if the operation takes 15 minutes to complete. The money that went into licensing those tools will effectively be wasted, together with lost productivity and energy wasted on complaining.

If you’re in charge of buying anything for your corporation’s use, let the actual users decide on what to buy. And pay whatever it costs, or find something cheaper but identical in function. Do the math and find you’ll gain more in the long run than the couple of bucks you saved upfront.

I make software. And other things. Mostly in Warsaw, Poland, from wherever there’s an Internet connection, power outlet and fresh coffee. I love to read and learn how the world works. You should follow me at @mpaluchowski.

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