Monday, July 28, 2008

leave the swiss army knife alone

In certain circles, particularly when someone is trying to make an argument in favor of "do one thing and do it well" in terms of computer programs, it is fashionable to bash the swiss army knife.

Jonathan Zittrain's The Future of the Internet - And How to Stop It is only the latest place where this turns up.

on camping trips, Swiss Army knives are ideal. Luggage space is often at a premium, and such a tool will be useful in a range of expected and even unexpected situations. In situations when versatility and space constraints are less important, however, a Swiss Army knife is comparatively a fairly poor knifeā€”and an equally awkward magnifying glass, saw, and scissors. qv


Quit picking on the poor swiss army knife. It was good enough for MacGuyver. Also, good enough for the Swiss Army. Why do you think nobody ever messes with Switzerland? (Well, that and shooting arrows through apples on top of people's heads)

Comments:

Yes plenty of room for perfect combinations of the right features -- in fact the best example of that is a product that beats the Swiss Army Knife: The Leatherman

I've owned probably 20 of these, mainly because i keep losing them. the first i got around 1986.

This is the one i carry with me now: Leatherman cs4. This one has a corkscrew, scissors, pliers, other stuff. I have two of these because at any given time one is lost but i still have the other. by the time i lose this one i will have found the one i lost.