Agreed. One could argue that at time t+1, the product that meets the market need is the N+1 version. Therefore, even if feature N developed at time t was perf

Agreed. One could argue that at time t+1, the product that meets the market need is the N+1 version. Therefore, even if feature N developed at time t was perfect for that time, it is still technical debt at time t+1. I could think of a lot of technical innovations that at their time were the perfect fit for the market, but at a future time become technical debt. I think the point to take away is that software is just a tool, an artifact, and at the end of the day it just matters that it does what it is "supposed to do". However, civilization is dynamic, so we are constantly seeking to optimize an ever-changing potential function. So perhaps it is not the programmer that is running in circles, perhaps it is the market. So for the manager accounting for the technical debt, they must accept the change as a cost of doing business.