[quote=captcha]You pick a tool that best fits the task at hand. Hanging on to the shiny one just because it gave you so much joy in the past is immature.[/quote]
Erm, we’re talking about tools. They give joy because they are well made and, in the right hands, deliver superior results.
My Snap-On stuff hasn’t been “shiny” in a long time, and my ’80s and ’90s vintage Fluke multimeters look downright ratty. But they are outstanding tools and I’ve grown accustomed to working with them–which makes me a better and more efficient workman.
Once you get into professional tools, “shiny” is just the usual by-product of excellent design and execution.
One exception is in software development. It seems that the shinier the tool, the more it sucks. This applies to server platforms, fancy text editors and their obese IDE cousins, database design and admin tools–the list goes on. I’ll take something that Just Works™, please, like emacs and Unix sans X. Save the chrome for the end user.
