In the last 12 hours, I both updated my Windows computer to Windows 11 and received the new Gmail update. They’re both disappointing, although Windows 11 is on another level of bad. Within minutes of using Windows 11, I had experienced so many jarring UI transitions and UI elements that clearly had not been updated, some since before Windows 10 even, that I wanted to stop using the operating system as soon as possible. Some of the UI and text were so blurry or distorted that it was incomprehensible. I had the thought that it was trying to be like GNOME but failing miserably. Amount of resources available clearly does not translate into good design or execution. Fortunately, I almost never boot to Windows—I have Ubuntu installed on that machine and use it 99% of the time I use that computer, and my main computer is a Mac.
The Gmail update is subtle, but it pins “Chat”, “Spaces”, and “Meet” along the left with no way to minimize the toolbar in which they reside. (It also includes a modest UI makeover that is indeed more pleasing to the eye.) It feels like yet another sad attempt by Google to promote foist its products on its users when we both a) don’t want the products and b) know even if we make use of them, they’ll be sunset within a few years.
I wonder when the last time a Windows update garnered positive sentiment from its user community. XP? I wonder when the last time a new Google product did the same. Gmail itself? Both of those releases were in the neighborhood of two decades ago. I do a lot of thinking about the systems that create the breeding grounds for these ill-fated projects, and why they exist and wield the influence they do. As is usual, the answer is, “It’s complex.” But I think it’s a combination of capitalist theater, corporate isolation, and a default towards maximalism (as opposed to simplicity and minimalism).