Apple and Judgmental Devs Conspire Against Me👿

Photo by Devon Janse van Rensburg @huntleytography on Unsplash

It’s coming home to roost for The Secret Developer. As a new developer watches me work on my machine I hear a whisper “How can you use that? Your machine is unusable”.

I thought they were referring to higher order functions in my code, but no. They consider my trackpad directly renders the machine unusable. It’s a judgmental moan like complaining light mode is a problem.

I’ve got questions though. Am I wrong? My fellow developers?

Then I knew who to blame. This is Apple’s fault.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I need to admit one thing: change is scary. That’s why I keep my Macs scroll direction the some way as it has been since before the natural scrolling default in 2011. 

You see I’ve never felt that the Mac should behave consistently with the iPhone where scrolling is concerned, these are two different devices and they can behave in different ways as far as I’m concerned. Since it’s an option to avoid natural scrolling in MacOS I don’t feel bad for doing so.

This is a problem for some watching me code, but I have to say why does it matter when 

Dev Teams vs. My Muscle Memory

When one of my colleagues said “Your machine is unusable” while we were trying to debug an issue on my MacBook they really raised questions about my adaptability (although I say it’s a rejection of Cupertino).

And sure, some might argue, “It’s been over a decade. Shouldn’t you move on?” But let’s consider what it would take. Thousands of hours of muscle memory rewired, countless scrolls misfired, and ensuing headaches? No thank you very much.

It’s just another step on the configuration train that I’ve grown to hate over the years.

Configuration Wars

It turns out that scrolling is the tip of the iceberg. Developers love to configure their setups — keyboards, IDEs, monitors, and yes, even trackpad preferences. Each setting is sacred. It’s not about being efficient; it’s about being efficient my way and telling other developers this is how it should be done. So when someone else changes their trackpad settings and goes full “Team Natural Scroll,” I don’t call their machine unusable. I just adjust, silently judge, and carry on.

But when it’s my turn, suddenly I’m the villain. Why does no one respect my unnatural preferences? Hypocritical, right?

Holding Out, Holding On

Let’s not forget that this tiny preference has outlasted several tech trends, and multiple people telling me I’m wrong. 

The iPhone notch? It’s accepted now, but remember the chaos when it was introduced. 

Web3? Overhyped and forgotten. 

The scrolling controversy on my development machine? Alive and well in every pairing session where I watch my colleague grimace while navigating my “wrongly” configured laptop.

If anything, my refusal to conform to Apple’s scroll direction speaks to my broader developer ethos: Stick to what works for you, even if it confuses the people who deserve to be confused. Sure, it’s a little stubborn, but isn’t every great coder just a little resistant to arbitrary change?

The Real Issue

Apple’s decision was never about improving usability; it was about control. And while I’m fine with some Cupertino quirks (like having to pay $20 for a dongle every time they remove a port), I draw the line at scrolling. At least in this case they give us the ability to choose how our trackpad will work, and I’m going to make the choice that suits me thank you very much.

Conclusion

The next time someone tells me to “just adapt” I’m going to remind them that devs are creatures of habit, and my habits are mine and I’m the one who uses my machine. Scroll direction included. Light mode included.

If you don’t like it, who cares? Set up your machine how you would like it, but don’t bring your dull opinions to mine.