Hi all,
I think this is a good thread, but please work to keep the discussion constructive. This thread has a provocative title, and is going to encourage some (welcome and hopefully useful) criticism of Inkscape's usability.
Also, note that one of Inkscape's key principles is "Patch first, discuss later". By this we mean that it's always easier to express and argue an opinion on the mail list, but we feel it is much, much more productive to demonstrate ideas through code contributions, mockups, and documentation.
Thus, if you are passionate about your ideas for improving usability, please consider submitting patches if you can. If you cannot, then of course share your ideas here on the list, but please avoid arguing over points, and I'd also caution against building up your expectations that someone will implement the ideas, even if you're right. ;-)
In the end, remember that Inkscape is a community-driven project and is still in heavy development. We're not going to achieve perfection overnight, and need to accept that there are still many flaws, but by cooperating and each putting in some time in various areas, we can make some very good improvements.
I'm actually looking forward to this thread, because we've not had critical discussions about the interface for a while, and as has been pointed out, we've grown so much lately that we definitely need it.
Bryce