We are obsessed with the idea that technology is too complicated. We aggressively push an ethos of simplicity and mono-interface, and we cheer for benevolent, tasteful gatekeepers as the one-true-way to bring the benefits of connected computation to all. We are obsessed because the problem is so hard. Because we are obsessive personalities. Because distilling the real complexity of computing for the masses is a worthy and vital goal.

But it is not the only goal. And while many of us know it, and I believe it, and no matter how much I might hold it dear to my core, sometimes it takes a little push to really feel it, and remember: Underneath all of the interfaces we made is an open architecture more powerful than any one service, that remains open and available, inexpensively, to anyone who’ll learn it.