Feature checklist dysfunction
marco.org
marco.org
Written in the over-defensive Apple-fanboi style ✓
Tells me nothing I didn't know ✓
There's nothing wrong with checklists, it's just information, unless you have some weird compulsion to claim that the one with the most, or the fewest, is in some way superior. That's the dysfunction.
This does happen in committee-driven enterprise software design and purchasing and is I think a genuine problem. Gadget blogs summarising useful information about products (does it have a CD drive yes/no) isn't a problem unless you've taken it as some kind of direct insult to your lifestyle choices because you bought the one that did, or didn't, have that feature.
Removing the checklists is not going to magically stop geeks fighting over pointless tech choices, they are just a tool that is too often used as a weapon.
However, I do think that when there are long lists of comparable features between very comparable systems (intravendor rather than intervendor, I guess) I do wish they would do something to typographically offset the things that are different.
Compare variations of Thinkpads and they are often VERY similar. What are just the important differences? Etc.
Why? Physical dimensions are the only thing that don't become obsolete. Small and portable is forever.
Not listing dimensions and weight is ridiculous, or would be if I'd ever seen a comparison that didn't include these basics.