Who said "There's only really one metric to me for future software development, which is -- do you write less code to get the same thing done?"  Maybe one of the folks on lesscode.org who

practice the art of using less code to get more done. We shun complexity and challenge the status-quo when it impedes our ability to simplify our development tools and processes. We appreciate Python, Ruby, LAMP, REST, KISS,  

Uhh, no.  It's the person often reviled  as a promoter of complexity and keeper of the status quo, our very own Chief Architect. [;)]

I mention this not only because the dilemma of simplicity is one of my favorite themes, but because this came up in several conversations that I heard at PDC about the new featues in C#.  The basic sentiments are stated pretty clearly by PDC blogger David Wheeler

But as with anything, the complexity that is added to this language will require very careful management. ...I spend a lot of time working with developers that are new to C#, new to Object Orientation and new to .NET. I feel that Lambda expressions, extension methods, anonymous types and LINQ (Language Independent Natural Query) will be concepts that they will find it difficult to grasp at the first attempt. ... C# 3.0 is reaching a point where a developer with only a few months experience will be unable to read what an "advanced developer" will be writing for, say, data access.

I definitely heard a number of people moaning about Lambda expressions in particular, which apparently can cause horrible LISP flashbacks to those with less than fond memories of the '80's AI hype wave. What was most interesting to me, however, was that in the panel discussion on LINQ Friday afternoon, someone asked about all the additional features being added to C# to support XML, SQL, object-relational mapping, etc. and worried that these features would undermine its essential simplicity. Anders Hejlsberg responded much as Bill Gates did in the quote at the top:  Think about all the complexity and tedium that the new C# features removes from your application code, and weigh that against the additional complexity of C# itself.  Anders went through a long list of things that application developers will need to know less about in return for learning about LINQ, etc. 

So far, and I say this after having spent the evening reading dozens of blog entries on LINQ, it looks like a considerable majority of the people who have been exposed to LINQ agree that it will provide an excellent return on the investment to learn the new features.  Remember, however, that the whole point of announcing all this at PDC was to get feedback, so by all means let Anders and others know about specific features will cause you more pain than gain. 

In my opinion, adding infrastructure code that was designed and implemented by the best people in the business then  exhausitvely tested for years, but lets you write less code in an application, is an excellent tradeoff.