Under our fingertips

Do you have enough tools?  Do you possess enough software packages?  Do you own or rent the ability to make something?  Chances are you probably do.  With the average computer containing word processing software able to write, append, index and paginate a book, and spreadsheet software able to calculate enormous ideas, you could do anything, but do you?

Computers have allowed us access to tools that were fantasy a few decades ago.  I am now wondering if we have too much, if getting the tools is more important than mastering them.  I need to learn a new vector graphics package and when I checked, I already had 3 good ones but wasn't sure which to concentrate on from now on in.  I still remember the first one I truly mastered, Acorn Draw.  It seemed to only have about 11 tools, but I did wonders with it.  Images were laboriously built up from sub bits and the whole grouped together.  True it was a nightmare to edit parts later but with so few tools you could concentrate on being creative.

On my iPad I tend to use 'Paper 53' which is stripped down to 6 tools, 8 colours but a blindingly fast interface which doesn't slow my thinking down.  I actually have all the major vector graphics packages for the iPad but long ago gave up trying to interpret their quirks and inconsistencies. I no longer carry a paper pad, just my iPad and the 'Paper 53' software.  In a technical sense such simplification could be seen as going backwards, but because I am getting meaningful things down quickly and joyously.. I feel like I'm moving forward!