Dominique Leca writes about the Bloomberg Terminal as poster child for complex user interfaces that are perceived as status symbols:
Bloomberg is an extreme case of a common UI phenomenon where users take pride and find highly rewarding to handle a painful interface. Obtuse UIs are generally only accepted by early adopters of brand new or highly innovative services. Most of the time, the success of the service and the growth of its user base makes it both necessary and natural to redesign the UI. But despite the fact that Bloomberg is a market leader and has a large user base, this pattern of UI evolution hasn’t come to pass.
(Via Daring Fireball)
