The Graphing Calculator Story has a great quote in it.
It is a cliche in our business that the first 90 percent of the work is easy, the second 90 percent wears you down, and the last 90 percent — the attention to detail — makes a good product.
As a pretty good approximation, this explains the user experience of Open Source, Enterprise, and Apple software.
Open Source software often stops after the first 90 percent, the fun part, and does not go beyond that.
Enterprise software is characterized by someone (no longer with the company) having done the first 90 percent years ago. The curse of enterprise software is that the programmers only ever do the second 90 percent, the unfun stuff. Enterprise management is not interested in creating new software (the fun 90 percent) or spending the time and money to make a polished product (the last 90 percent).
There are a few companies, Apple being in the vanguard, which do all three 90 percents.
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