I first came across this line in the great Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. “Less, but better” was the design mantra of Dieter Rams from Braun. Braun, of course, designs all types of household appliances (I use a Braun electric razor myself!). And his design philosophy was that all things should be as simple as possible, but of course, better than they were before.
I think this is a great philosophy when thinking about any technology. Technology that gets in the way, of course, is not helpful at all. And very often we’ll encounter technology that is clearly “over-engineered.” (My wife actually owns an electric wine bottle opener. Really? Is opening a bottle of wine so difficult that we need an electric opener?!?)
So when you think about the technology you use, or equally important, the processes you use to manage the technology, keep in mind “less, but better.”