[Lotus Notes Sucks: Example 58]
History of Lotus Notes
You will find the history of Lotus Notes a most amusing document. Some highlights include:
"Apple Computer released the Macintosh with a new easy-to-use graphical user interface. This influenced the developers of Lotus Notes, and they gave their new product a character-oriented graphical user interface."
And the developers did a lousy job of it.
"Simply using the product every day helped us develop key functionality."
This explains why Lotus Notes is difficult, if not impossible, to use. Whenever a product is designed by programmers, you end up with a mess. Letting programmers design a product without input from real-world users is like letting a carpenter design a house–you end up with the software equivalent of a building with the toilet next to the kitchen sink—because plumbing is easier to install this way.
"...the developers needed to synchronize data between the two different locations, so they invented replication."
I needed transportation, so I invented the car.
The effusive praise for Lotus Notes is enough to make your stomach turn.
Analysis
The history of Lotus Notes is filled with propaganda. The last sentence is the most outrageous:
"...we're working hard to ensure that the next release of Notes/Domino continues in the tradition of its predecessors, offering all the latest functionality, usability, and security our customers have come to expect and demand."
They may be working hard, but they are not working smart. Lotus Notes has little useful functionality because it is almost unusable.
Conclusion
Lotus Notes sucks.