Common
Worse is better
Theory of software design
Worse is better
"Worse is better" or the "New Jersey style" is a term coined by Richard P. Gabriel in a 1989 essay to describe the dynamics of software acceptance and the frequency with which "worse" designs seem to outcompete better ones. The essay argues simple, hacked-together software that makes it to market first will often outcompete better and more elegant designs. Gabriel argues that by the time the elegant design is complete, users who have adopted the worse design will be unable to switch as a result of switching barriers, vendor lock-in, and backward compatibility requirements. Gabriel contrasts "worse-is-better" software with the "MIT Approach" of doing the "Right Thing", and argues bare-minimum software "has better survival characteristics than the-right-thing". Gabriel offers the examples of the adoption of C over Lisp, Unix over Lisp machines and VMS, and x86 over reduced instruction set computers as examples of technically worse solutions defeating more elegant ones by arriving to market...
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