When a system tries to do something automagically and makes a mistake, it is very frustrating, especially because, to allow seamless large changes, hide competitive details, or make the UI more "streamlined", such systems rarely give users options to tune the results. A system that gives controls to the user and expects them to tweak their own experience is so much better in my opinion, except in the metrics of first-time usage (or first-time-since-major-change), when those controls look like information overload and make the system seem like something that must be learned before it can be used.

And yet, when the latter inevitably breaks on an edge case, users can try to fix it themselves. They don't hit a wall of frustrated "I can't do anything", they hit a challenge that they are empowered to try overcoming. They already know what they want and can set things that way, rather than trying vaguely to teach a system (machine learning, hardcoded heuristics engine, department of humans making seemingly unconnected changes to a GUI with each passing version and no obvious plan) to understand their desires.

I miss the days when users were seen as intelligent professionals who are willing to change settings, create and re-dock an assortment of toolbars to every edge of every screen/window to suit their daily tasks, read a manual (or at least search the integrated help entries) to overcome problems. Rather than "busy" phone users who just want to complete a task with minimal time spent learning and get back to posting on facebook or whatever, and who accept the automagical solution because adequate results instantly are somehow considered better than great results with some work.

Ugh, that whole block of text just kept growing; I had better leave and go ramble/rant at trees or clouds or something elsewhere.