Simple is not stupid.
Simplicity breeds consistency, which in turn creates reliability. Creating anything reliable and consistent, while innovating the way people live is how movements are started. And once these innovations reach millions, many of them will wonder why they never thought of the same idea.
There’s a certain elegance to the way that simple applications solve problems.
Simple is not just a way of doing things, or the features of a product, after all, there is a difference between a simple product that excels and a cheap product that disappoints. Simple is not cheap.
Simple is a new way of thinking about things, often reducing it’s problem to it’s most basic. The counter-intuitiveness of simplicity is that it isn’t stupid.
Movements gain momentum when ideas are clear and easy to express and understand, easily unifying multitudes of people.
Minimalism is a statement. It’s about taking away until you’re left with something that just works. It’s about removing the bells and whistles that often make something attractive, and clearing the toolkit until you only have a couple tools left.
But simplicity is not about what you do or what you do it with. Even if you put the fancy tools away in a box, it’s about releasing your creativity from the box.
Minimalism is about taking away. Simplicity is about thinking away. Simplicity can be manifested as minimalism, but is not defined by it.
World class chefs can create astounding dishes with only a handful of ingredients put together with only a handful of techniques. Skilled photographers can take jaw dropping pictures with a point and shoot. Talented authors can paint vivid pictures and convey fabu thoughts with pen and paper.
Stupid is not simple.