This seems like an assertion in advance of evidence.
To be sure, the entire internet-using public does not get a vote on the issue, aside from browser configurations and plugins (which the people who deny us a vote pay PR agencies to hate). Just like in other instances of disenfranchisement, those who aren't allowed to vote are indeed considered to be "minorities," even if only in the amount of political power they wield.
Thank you for helping me realize what's been bothering me about software for the last decade or so. I've been experiencing an increasing apathy and dissatisfaction and I kept attributing it to "age" -- 40 is not that much, true, but I had no better hypothesis until now.
Basically, what bothers me is that most of software being developed nowadays treats users like shit and the excuse is always along the same lines: "We ensure that we do what users want, by measuring their response, and if they didn't like it they would use something else".
Turns out, you can't go anywhere else if everything is corrupted through same perverse incentives and you don't have the power to change it yourself. Back when most users were more computer-savvy, the users had more power. Obviously, we can't go back to computers being mostly a hobby for geeks, but there has to be some kind of a solution to put more power in users' hands. I just can't think of one.
You have to fight universalism in all its forms. Whether you agree with the default behavior or not, if people feel strongly about another option then let them have it by changing a config setting. Resist the "it must be this way and no other" crowd. Even if the config is as user-unfriendly as about:config, it's there. If you find it impossible to convince management that the slight increase in maintenance is worth the flexibility of both the software and end user usage, expose it anyway for "testing purposes".
This seems like an assertion in advance of evidence.
To be sure, the entire internet-using public does not get a vote on the issue, aside from browser configurations and plugins (which the people who deny us a vote pay PR agencies to hate). Just like in other instances of disenfranchisement, those who aren't allowed to vote are indeed considered to be "minorities," even if only in the amount of political power they wield.