Not all hackers have the same itches. Also, easier to build != less valuable. The other thing is that there is a continuum between yourself and random people:

Not all hackers have the same itches. Also, easier to build != less valuable. The other thing is that there is a continuum between yourself and random people: yourself - family - friends - coworkers - acquaintances - random people. And so even if hackers had similar needs/wants (still doubtful to me), it's very unlikely that their family and friends would all also have similar needs. Curiously, PG has mentioned this before in a few essays, but for some reason omits it here.