you're righ. infiniminer is deliberatly obtuse. minecraft is lower-barrier-to-entry.
zach cares about (keeping the basics out). notch cares about (lettin the basics in). pop versus lit. ALT LIT!
however if you've played minecraft (all have) it might be time to move on to something more advanced. redstone stuff is completely arbitrary. zachs system at least makes sense to a well-ordered mind. engineering for the engineering people. art for the art people. this is what we need. elves versus dwarves.
inifinifactory wont ever be as big as mincraft. but it is better than mincraft. my prediction: its gonna be big. big cult following.
the best criticism of infiniminer is in the tv show FRESH MEAT. i'll see if i can find it on youtube. edit: on zachs blog:
http://www.zachtronics.com/infiniminer-on-television/IF YOU CARE ABOUT ALT LIT? WHO DO YOU READ. I WILL TELL YOU: READ KITTY IT. THE ZAZZLE POETRY MAVEN. YOU WILL KNOW IT IS THE CORRECT PROPHET IF: IT CARRIES THE AVATAR OF HELM'S HASTUR.