I can follow instructions to get them working, but I don't get why maven & pom files are needed.

what is wrong with import ?
i thought Java's class system already links classes together when they are dependant. can't maven just look at the class relations to figure out which other classes to import?

The whole maven thing doesn't make sense. When I need jars I import them. That's it. So why need maven?

one of the problems i have with maven tutorials and documents is that they don't describe the workload they are saving. A side by side comparison of a programmer's task with and without using maven would make it clear, but i can't find one.

at what point does using maven become economic? how many librarys \ jars \ imports do i need before I should be using maven?