toolchains have replaced know-how...we must rid ourselves of the cult of the complex. Admitting the problem is the first step in solving it.

That’s how Zeldman has begun his latest tirade. Granted, the delivery is classic Zeldman, but if you wade through some of the ranting and listen for his points, I think he makes some valid ones.

Alas, many new designers and developers (and even many experienced ones) feel like they can’t launch a new project without dragging in packages from NPM...with no sure idea what the code therein is doing...For them, it’s a matter of job security and viability. There’s almost a fear that if you haven’t mastered a dozen new frameworks and tools each year (and by mastered, I mean used), you’re slipping behind into irrelevancy. HR folks who write job descriptions listing the ten thousand tool sets you’re supposed to know backwards and forwards to qualify for a junior front-end position don’t help the situation.

Why it’s ok to be failing while trying to find your way:

To get where we need to go, we have to do it wrong first...If we can continue to work together and consciously balance these dual impulses—pushing the boundaries of the web while keeping it open and accessible to everyone—we’ll know we’re on the right track, even if it’s sometimes a circuitous or befuddling one. Even if sometimes it’s kind of bad. Because that’s the only way I know to get to good.

Love that last bit: the only way to get good is to be bad.