Tomás Thor Palmeirim

…y factors that lead to crime is a long-term solution, and “long-term” is a classic keyword problem. If you’re a politician looking to get reelected, short-term solutions are pretty much the only answer, and if you initiate programs that show results in five years rather than six months, even if the five-year plan is vastly more effective, you might as well not bother running for another term, because you invested tax dollars on keeping citizens safer while the crime rate initially remains unchanged.

The answer is that these products do an incredible job of solving their users’ problems, and their complex interfaces are a key reason for their success.