One issue I see here is that some of us just don’t want all that control. When i use a new tool, I want it to work. If I see tools mentioned here, I see a lot of people looking for “super duper mega ultimate fine point control 259”. I don’t want a company spending time on the 5% of genius computer users or experts. I want things to work. I don’t want 90 buttons on my ps5 controller. I’m ok if I can’t do the crazy Uber loop you get 3rd place in the world. I want fewer buttons and will trade that for less control.
Many on here will seriously disagree with, but almost my entire corporate office won’t.
But that is exactly the point the author makes with the quote from Alan Kay "simple things should be simple, complex things should be possible". He is not advocating complexity he is advocating that the possibility of "power user" complexity should be there.
An example of this used to be :( Firefox, you can use the browser from the start unchanged but the possibility of complex addons and customizing 'about:config' is there.
The point that annoys a lot of users is the 'google UX' type of decision arrogance, that enforces users to operate in a padded room with no sharp objects. That mindset of "we know better than you how you should want to use this app", is what I suspect frustrates a lot of users.
I'm starting to use the term "space for user to grow" instead of "power user features" - because that's what power user features are. Power users aren't born, they're made through repeat exposure and their own desire to solve their problems faster/better.
This implies that these features don't need to be up front, or conflicting with simpler, streamlined methods. But they need to be there, and be easily discoverable.
Many on here will seriously disagree with, but almost my entire corporate office won’t.