Middle Class Software

The middle class is where most of society resides. It's where most political campaigns take aim, and if they don't, they'll look as though they don't care. Why doesn't software do the same thing? It's funny how software can take control over every aspect of our lives, and yet, we're not all that concerned with accessible software. I don't mean accessible from a standards perspective for users with disabilities — that's an entirely different problem. In this context, I'm referring to software that's inaccessible even to those that fortunate enough not to be disabled. It's a problem, I think, that there is a ton of good code produced in various open source communities, and it doesn't get the kind of audience that it should. The reasons aren't plentiful, but not straightforward, because if they were, we would simply address these issues. But I'm sure that if we could try to identify the middle class software user, your typical every day user that might want to use your software, we could take steps in making the world of computing more appealing.