How many of us would use a music player that just had start and stop buttons? Why would this seem as an inconvenience? If the product is already familiar, then it would be better to improve on the already familiar interface. When it is a completely new technology, you get an opportunity to make a fresh start.
Similarly, many niche products have power users who would be unhappy if the interface is too "dumbed down". The classic case of an IDE and UNIX text editors come to mind. An IDE is quite obvious to use, but many would not find it as efficient.
Erm... This is the point of the article to some extent ;)
I think you're misunderstanding cognitive load/overhead. It's not about dumbing down. It's not about reducing the amount of information or interface. It's not about "less stuff".
Dealing with the human limits on what people can process often involves doing exactly the opposite. You add more information or use familiar interfaces so that folk don't have to remember/learn new things.
Erm... This is the point of the article to some extent ;)
I think you're misunderstanding cognitive load/overhead. It's not about dumbing down. It's not about reducing the amount of information or interface. It's not about "less stuff".
Dealing with the human limits on what people can process often involves doing exactly the opposite. You add more information or use familiar interfaces so that folk don't have to remember/learn new things.
See http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Cognitive_load for some info.