125 Million Years of Command-N

According to my rough calculations, the Mac OS X “Finder” throws away approximately 125 million person years by switching Command-N to create a new file browser window.

Formula

(# Mac Users) * (Avg. Years on Mac OS) = # of person years where “Command-N” in the Finder created a new, empty folder in the current Finder window, instead of creating a new file browser window.

Rough approximation

(25 million) * (5 years) = 125 million person years

Conclusion

The Mac OS X “Finder” throws away approximately 125 million person years by switching Command-N to create a new file browser window.

I don’t see how this is justified. There is no improvement, just change for change’s sake (or NeXT’s sake). It’s even arguable that the average Mac user creates folders more often than opening new file browser windows, which means it’s worse, even for people who are new to Macs.

This is a Bad Thing. Tell Apple.