This article on "Coding Horror" is a nice sidebar to yesterday's post I made on "learning new stuff shouldn't be hard". It's not that it's hard - it's that people "imprint" on things they know:
Baby duck syndrome affects the way you learn to use computers and software. It can make it hard for you to make the most rational decisions about which software to use or when the learning curve of a given thing is worth the climb. In general, it makes the familiar seem more efficient and the unfamiliar less so. In the short run, this is probably true -- if you're late for a deadline, the best thing to do is not to switch to a new operating system in the hopes that your productivity will increase. In the long run, it's worth trying a few things knowing that they won't all work out, but hoping to find the tools that match your style best.
This goes well beyond software, of course. Look at almost any long lasting business process objectively.
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