Can We Please Stop Making Worthless Apps Now?
How the tech industry collectively wastes its intelligence. July 8, 2015.
This is something I wrote in 2015 while underemployed as a freelance interface designer. This is probably the most popular thing I've ever written. This was in the "there's an app for that" era, and it seemed to strike a chord with people at the time.
I wish I could say the digital landscape is better now than 9 years ago. In many ways, it's much worse. But I'd like to think what I wrote here was slightly prophetic in that there is no longer an endless flood of janky, useless apps. Instead, we've consolidated into a smaller number of more polished and more addictive apps.
I have no intention writing a new thinkpiece about that, because it's all been said already. Just go read some Jonathan Haidt or Cal Newport.
Anyway, here's the original article.
Justin Mulwee