Interesting way to look at it. You could look at it another way and say what whatever they were doing before worked and got them this far. However, will what they are doing work for their continued future?
Our entire modern day computing experience is built upon 'Layers upon layers of complexity, abstraction, technologies, etc.';Simple and easy doesn't necessarily mean less.
Whilst I completely respect their decision to withdraw the LogMeIn Free product offering I found the notification period way too short and badly communicated. I received an email this morning saying there would no longer be a LogMeIn Free offering from today and a subscription would be required to continue using the service. Digging further it appears there's a 7 day grace period for existing users - although there's no mention of that in the email. It's a stellar product for sure so I now find myself asking if I want to do business with a company that communicates this badly with it's users.
I have no sympathy here - interviewing is hard for both parties and isn't going to be solved by imposing rules like this; you won't get better hires by asking them not to prepare.
Also, (possibly off topic...) am I the only one that thought of the Kobayashi Maru after reading this?
That last part is simply incorrect; Councils have a time limit on whether empty properties are exempt from council tax. Also, there's an extra 50% penalty if it's been empty/unfurnished for 2 years or more:
https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/second-homes-and-empty-proper...
"You can fix things. You can make new and amazing things."
This could and should apply equally to teams as well as individuals working alone (albeit taking different approaches to working).
What's interesting here is the comparison between achieving something as a team/in an organisation and working alone, which is ultimately what the author is advocating in order to gain certain freedoms. However, it seems to me that one can only achieve so much as an individual and this includes effecting change on a large scale because it takes many hands and cooperation to stir a big pot.
I don't think it's weird at all. In fact, I think it's normal given their history of only embracing technology that is ready and able to provide (in their opinion) a great user experience; If they can't see a way to do it well, they won't do it.
https://sonic-pi.net/