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The Best

Entry 258, on 2005-12-02 at 15:27:33 (Rating 2, Computers)

I was talking to a fellow computer geek recently, and we got onto the topic of what is the best computer program ever. Very few people use a particularly wide range of programs, so popularity by itself isn't a good way to measure quality. This is just as well, otherwise we might be tempted to nominate something horrible like Microsoft Office or Internet Explorer as the best!

To be the best, a program should be widely used, be incredibly functional, be enjoyable to use, preferably be available on multiple platforms, and be undisputed as the leader in its field. After some thought I have concluded that Photoshop is the obvious candidate.

In all the years that Photoshop has been around (its first started as a Mac only program in the 1980s) there has never been a serious competitor. I have used it for almost 20 years and I still discover neat new things it can do. I admit it has become rather bloated and full of features, but unlike other programs these features still work together and seem to be well integrated into the program as a whole.

Adobe itself has become the second big monopoly in many ways (second to Microsoft, of course) but at least they do produce reliable, well designed products. I can't remember the last time Photoshop ever gave me any problems. Microsoft Word on the other hand is full of bugs, bad design decisions, and inconsistent user experiences.

Photoshop does have a big advantage over many other programs, because it is generally used for interesting, creative tasks, such as working with photographs and graphics. This is just intrinsically more fun than doing word processing! But if it wasn't full of powerful, well designed tools even that would become a chore, so Photoshop itself deserves some credit for being a genuine creative tool.

So there's my decision: Photoshop is the best program ever! If you feel like agreeing or arguing over this feel free to leave a comment in this blog's comment system.

Comment 1 (213) by Al on 2006-06-21 at 21:09:03:

How can you say Photoshop is the best? Its much too expensive for most people to own. Microsoft Office should be the best because everyone uses it. Don't let your dislike of Microsoft blind you to admitting their products are good.

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