Comments on: Fewer, Nicer Things

By: Fewer, Nicer Laws « Nostradoofus

Fewer, Nicer Laws « Nostradoofus — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:31:24 +0000

[...] 12, 2009 at 3:31 pm · Filed under Uncategorized The Fewer, Nicer Things meme applies in particular to government. Minimizing regulatory compliance expense is mainly a [...]

By: Simplified computing « Mitchelldom

Simplified computing « Mitchelldom — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:20:53 +0000

[...] Install, remove, update, or otherwise wrestle with printer drivers. Here is the prescription to avoid all that. It generally follows the principle of “Fewer, nicer things.” [...]

By: wemitchell

wemitchell — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:29:16 +0000

True. Maybe these two qualities make a book easy to get rid of:
1. Time-sensitive
2. Available free online

So the timeless “Art of UNIX programming” stays, but the 68020 machine programming manual goes. Raymond Chandler stays (still in copyright), but maybe Arthur Conan Doyle goes (collected works free at gutenberg.org).

For a while I found certain computer references easier offline, but that is now changing.

Haven’t thought yet about what to do with my impressive collection of random bicycle components, unfinished/crashed radio control airplanes, weird tools, etc.

By: erollins

erollins — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:56:11 +0000

OTOH,

In _The Black Swan_ Nassim Nicholas Taleb discusses the importance of having a large library. He is especially proud of math books he obtained from a downsizing Benoit Mandelbrot.

And in Make Magazine #12, Mark Frauenfelder’s Welcome column “Spare Parts are Essential” points out the usefulness of keeping random stuff for use in projects.