After reading the Wired article, Why We Should Design Some Things to Be Difficult to Use, I finally realize that Emacs should be hard to use, and we really should just give up changing it to be easier for new-comers.

This quote sums up my 20 year experience with Emacs:

[Fujifilm took] the controls out of deep menu functions and putting them back on chrome knobs that just beg to be twiddled.

I bought a Fujifilm X100 two years ago. It was the first piece of technology I’d bought in 15 years where I had to read the manual. Actually, I’ve read the manual at least four times. Now I’m taking the best pictures of my life, and I love it. By being hard to use, my X100 made me a better photographer.

Seems like Emacs users are now in some elite club where the hazing ritual amounts to learning Lisp. Consequently, I’ve decided to start signing all my Emacs-related correspondence with:

Yours in Emacs,

Howard