Oh technology, how I love you and hate you at the same time. How dost though be so simultaneously enlightening and infuriating?

You ever download a piece of software, shining with anticipation, hoping and dreaming that it will suddenly make all your dreams come true? Only to open it up expectantly, brimming with the glow of your genius decision, then realize you have absolutely no idea how to use it?

Sometimes the software is all too technical. Ever tried to learn Blender on your own? It’s a complete nightmare! (It’s probably the least user-friendly program out there, too. Seriously, I wouldn’t put up with it if it wasn’t so awesome.) Even if it’s less technical, there are still many struggles you face when booting up a program for the first time. Recently, I downloaded a piece of software to animate on (in the hopes of updating my current program), and was confused the minute I opened it up. So, confidently, I navigated to the handy dandy little help bar (at least I could locate that) and found…guess what? A 438 page user manual! No joke.

Seriously, even without the learning curve of similar software, it took me several minutes to find out how to even do the most basic thing.

Is it time for standardization?

Yeah, I know that the keystrokes are rather similar, like ctrl-c for copy or ctrl-o for open (or cmd if you’re an apple user). Some software, like Adobe products, uses shortcuts that are standard all around. And if you learn those, it’s super easy to use another member of the suite, even if you’ve never touched it before (So, if you are really good at Photoshop, for instance, the transition to Illustrator, InDesign, or even Premiere and Aftereffects, should be relatively painless, as your toolbars are always going to be in the same place, you know what the tools do, and the workspace is familiar to navigate).

But say you pick up a piece of software (for me, Blender is one such piece) that hails from a company or organization you are unfamiliar with. Then open it up, realizing that the only thing you understand is that it is in English.

Yikes.

I guess that’s the fun of new software—diving in and experimenting, only relenting and finding a tutorial when you are sufficiently frustrated. It’s an exhilarating experience, if a taxing one. Realizing that you must explore beyond the borders of MS Paint (which is being discontinued, by the way) onto the broader horizon of Photoshop, Gimp, and Paint Tool Sai, or deciding that Moviemaker doesn’t quite cut it anymore, and you want to discover QuickTime and Premiere, can be quite daunting. Making the switch from ImageReady to TVPaint, too can be particularly difficult, but, rest assured, you will reap the benefits of more capable programs. And unless you want to be like the guy who didn’t want to learn Photoshop and instead illustrated a book using MS Paint over the course of ten years, I suggest you bite the bullet and learn a new program.

I’m quite sure it will be a time saver in the end.