Why Do Things That Aren’t Broken Keep Changing?

Like it or not, change is inevitable

I’m afraid you’re not going to like my answer.

When this post originally appeared some years ago, Google had just changed the layout of the Gmail interface. I get this question periodically about almost every major online service. Google, Hotmail/Outlook.com, Yahoo! and others all go through periodic major updates, and some set of existing users get quite upset.

Almost every site online or software we use goes through periodic changes. When they take on a major update, it’s going to upset some of its user base. It’s a cost of doing business.

And that, really, is what it all comes down to: services and software you use are foremost, businesses in a highly competitive environment.

Changing things that aren't broken

Google and other major services regularly update their platforms to stay competitive. While this might frustrate you, going back to older versions is typically not an option because of costs and complexity. Change is inevitable in technology, driven by competition, user needs, and evolving features. Accepting as best you can will make your life easier.

Keeping the old version

I’ll get to why things change in a moment, but I want to address getting the old version back.

You can’t.

System updates for online services are almost always one-way. There is no option to keep or revert to the old version. In the few cases where I’ve seen it, it’s been only a temporary measure that eventually goes away.

“Why?” is actually pretty simple: maintaining the old version and the new version simultaneously is not only extremely costly, but it adds to the overall complexity of both and ultimately, it can make them both less reliable than simply focusing on one, new, version.

Keeping two versions of the same thing running often just makes little sense for a variety of reasons that typically boil down to cost and stability.

So, no, once an online service changes like this, there’s typically no going back.

Stagnation is death

Gmail is competing with Outlook.com and Yahoo Mail, and all three are competing with a variety of free and paid email services available on the internet. As a result, all the services are continually reviewing new features and functionality to stay current and competitive, or even one step ahead of the competition.

Here’s the thing that most find difficult to accept: they must change.

If they did not, if they simply picked a user interface and feature set and stuck with it forever, they would eventually lose their market as other systems continued to improve. The other systems would bypass them to become “better” with new features and functionality.

That’s death for any business.

And make no mistake about it: the services that you use — even though it might be totally free to you — are businesses. If it cannot sustain itself as a business, it will eventually go away.

Competition means that it must change to keep up and stay in business.

Perhaps it actually was broken

One of the common arguments is that they didn’t need to change something because it wasn’t broken.

It may not be broken in your eyes, perhaps, but … the system may be very broken for other people who use it differently than you or broken regarding new features, functionality, and services that this or other providers are implementing.

One thing that has always amazed me is the incredible variety of differing ways that people will use the same software or service. Often, they’re used in ways that the designers never would have predicted. And even if they had, the nuances of exactly how the service gets used by the masses often expose flaws or opportunities to make things easier that no one had even considered.

There may be things that perhaps you never run into, but others struggle with every day.

Things that the designers decide they must fix.

Because it’s broken.

“Everyone” doesn’t hate it

One of the common comments that accompany this complaint is that “everyone hates it”.

No. Just … no.

Everyone doesn’t hate it.

The people making the most noise are almost certainly the people that do hate it, but the people that like it, or accept it, and move on are quietly going on about their business without notice.

Sure, you’ll see people in the support groups and forums complaining about the change, perhaps even a lot of them. But why would the people that like it even show up? The result is that the forum looks like the world is one-sided and filled with haters. The 99% that accept or embrace the change are elsewhere, getting stuff done.

Don’t let the echo chamber fool you into thinking your opinion is in the majority. It might be, but it’s more likely that it’s not even close.

Even if I’m wrong, change is inevitable

I’ll admit that everything I’ve said above relating to “why” is mostly conjecture and rationalization on my part. Based on my own years of experience in both business, and in technology, it makes sense to me, and I believe that it’s at least conjecture in the right direction.

But I could be wrong.

For all I know, perhaps there really is an evil plot to see who can annoy the most people. Seems an unlikely business model, but I know many people feel that’s exactly what’s happening.

It really doesn’t matter why.

Change is coming, whether or not we like it.

It’s a fundamental part of the growth of technology and society. Services like Gmail, Outlook.com (formerly Hotmail), Yahoo, and others are going to change every so often, for whatever reason.

So you and I are left with a choice.

• We can spend a lot of energy to resist it, get annoyed with it, or complain about it.
• We can gracefully, if perhaps begrudgingly, accept it, either as a simple inevitability, or even something even to look forward to.

Me, I’ll take the second option.

I’m too [fill in the blank]

Statements of the form, “I’m too _______”, for whatever fills in the blank, aren’t valid excuses for most people. They hide behind them.

Some, yes, of course, but for the vast majority it’s just that: an excuse and nothing more.

I’m certainly not saying that I’ll simply accept whatever the services feed me … if I don’t like what they’ve done to a sufficient degree, I have other options.

I can change services.

Don’t like what Google Mail is doing? Switch to Yahoo Mail or Outlook.com. Or start using a desktop email program to perhaps insulate you from the whims of Google’s designers.

Don’t like where Windows is headed? Switch to Linux or a Mac.

But it all involves one constant: change.

Regardless of what you change too, it will also continue to change over time.

Change, like winter, is coming.