> So just because you can remove screws more easily you build better shelves?

Yes, with a high probability. Try to put all your screwdrivers away and then try to build a shelf without them. Not only will you need lots of time just for fastening the parts that you cannot spend on thinking on a more optimal layout of the shelf, making the result worse -- you will also judge every layout idea on how hard it will be to build without a screwdriver, instead of judging it on whether it is useful as part of the final shelf.

> You can build bad apps with good tools and good apps with bad tools.

This is a (probably unintentional) strawman. The argument was that tools make the task substantially easier and therefore improve the quality of the end result, not that they make it possible at all.

> Just because it gets easier for the web dev doesn't makes it easier for the user and vice versa.

Again, the argument was that tools make it easier to build a good product, not that tools themselves guarantee a good product. Of course with good tools you can build a bad product, and you can even build it easier than without good tools.

The argument "tools make the task substantially easier" was already a strawmen because the article is about bad UX with existing apps. And web devs already have "screwdrivers" but the apps don't get better.

Maybe it isn't the tools because there are great apps on the web,s some of them even without many tools. Maybe it's time to stop blaiming the tooling and focus on the developers and their environment.

I'm not a bad painter because of the wrong brushes, I'm just not good at it (yet).

I don't think the argument was "screwdriver" vs "no screwdriver". It was about some tools being better than others.

Everyone in web dev uses tools of some sort. The argument might be that some tools are so advanced, it's like using a robot arm for tightening a few screws. Some devs will embrace robot arms, others will use a screwdriver.

Thank you for describing my thoughts way better than I did

>So just because you can remove screws more easily you build better shelves?

probably you build the same quality shelves slightly faster, being able to build things faster allows you to learn faster, by not focusing mental and physical energy on the relatively stupid task of removing screws you have more mental and physical energy to focus on things that maybe actually help you build better shelves.

A lot of the badness of the apps however is somewhat business driven, dark patterns etc.

you're making a point here and the counterpoint is that building good apps with bad tools requires extra effort that costs money that the business owners don't have because the market won't support it (ie nobody is willing to pay more for higher quality stuff - you need to figure out how to make high quality easier)

But the whole point of the article is that the apps are bad no matter the tools. One should first know how to produce high quality in the first place before thinking about how to produce it more easily. All the brushes in the world won't let me paint like Leonardo da Vinci.

I don't disagree but quality tools are about raising the floor, I haven't had to worry about a ceiling falling on me my whole life because fastener technology is very good

Have you even tried building a shelf without a screw driver? It literally falls apart after one day of usage

You do realizes stable shelves existed before screws?

Ever heard about dowels and glue and whatnot?

I specifically mentioned screws to highlight the fact that it's a shelf with holes for screws already there. Either way, using glue would remove the possibility of disassembling the shelf for moving, which is a downgrade from my perspective

Nails?