I certainly understand your POV. Probably the closest we can come is user surveys and if SM truly implements what they see in those then you may be correct in your assumptions - assuming a large enough representative sample takes the surveys :-)

SM may not be able to afford to do usability studies like Microsoft. They bring in users and observe the way they use an application, which features they use, how they interact with the interface, etc. Of course they also have specialists in interface design. Believe me a programmer is usually the last person you want designing your interface. Or I should say some designers and even some programmers if asked might say that. Whew! Now I understand why doctors perform all those unnecessary ass covering  tests :-)

I absolutely agree that experienced users may be vexed by a hand holding interface. I have never believed that the simple interface should be the only choice. That's why I specified a configurable interface and I think why Peng referred to an advanced tab. Remember what you got in Poser 4 by typing "PO2," an entirely different interface. Plenty of apps have a 'show advanced tools' or similar option. It's not a binary situation. Frankly, I really can't understand why anyone would object to graduated UI where everyone could choose and new users can feel more comfortable. If it's done right then even old hands could benefit. You're a material genius, select the advanced UI for that, but you're just beginning to explore dynamic cloth - set that to the newbie UI. Now not everyone works that way, some like to read and ask questions and know everything before starting, others want hand holding at first and gradually learn about the parts that interest them most.

 It almost sounds like you oppose more ease of use based more on ideology than anything else. It's almost like some Linux users who deride Windows users and scoffed at Linux becoming more user friendly. I honestly think that some of them wanted to maintain their little club. Dang it, a commandline was good enough for my pappy... It's the notion that everbody has to learn or use technology the same way.  Insisting that everyone be hazed to get in. If you want to limit your user base to those who conform to a certain ethic then OK. Some*,*** no, IMO, based on decades of using, reading, programming and teaching about computers, a lot of people don't read manuals. Some may even have visual impairments or be dyslexic. That's just a fact of life. You can curse at the gods, but it is what it is. 

A lot of people like easy, based on my knowledge of psychology and OMG, who knew you can buy a freaking Staples Easy Button*! Companies aren't looking for resentment, they're looking for users. If they provide an easy interface, presumably it's based on sales and internal research, not an assumption that people are dumb, but on what they think the majority of their customers and potential customers want. They want to maximize their revenue and, yes, reduce support costs because many people just ain't gonna RTFM. If SM feels such accomodation means the terrorists have won, then best wishes - Daz will be happy to take the money and run cause ya know da Vickie always needs new shoes.

*"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that maybe if "maw maw" and "paw paw" need to be walked through every single step of using a computer or its software, they shouldn't have one." *

Wow. I'm sorry but that sounds breathtakingly arrogant to me, qualifier notwithstanding. No computer for the old folks? I know you'll at least make an exception for the (probably many) people in the 3rd world, some of whom don't even know who Snooki is, not to mention being, er, illiterate, who might actually learn to read on the darn thing if someone was patient and compassionate enough to teach them. The latter goes for Nana and Papa as well. One of my great regrets was that I wasn't able to introduce my mother to computers. I know I would have had to literally hold her hand, and I know she would forget, and I know I would have to make a bright big easy button interface for her, but she would have been proud and bragged to her friends, and I would have been happy.

*Easy Button Google it, not sure if even a non Poser commercial link is allowed. Staples donates proceeds to Boys and Girls Clubs of America

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken