> a ledger, like a spreadsheet but simpler, hasnt 'crumbled' in a hundred years despite being as basic as it gets.
Yet, for many reasons, your bank does not run your account with a spreadsheet.
> Sounds like your idea of simple is just bad code that is unfit for its purpose
Not quite. Simple is good. Do simple. But some things cannot be achieved with familiar tools. Sometime it is simpler to use an abstraction that is difficult to grasp, initially, than to write piles of code "the way we are used to" because we are afraid of "making others think".
Case in point, a ledger, like a spreadsheet but simpler, hasnt 'crumbled' in a hundred years despite being as basic as it gets.
Simple is good when it's fit for purpose.
Sounds like your idea of simple is just bad code that is unfit for its purpose. Theyre not the same thing.