4 ms·

Its like saying there is trillion dollars of untapped market if a novel writer's draft is as good as their final product. Yes, just like anything there is ine

Its like saying there is trillion dollars of untapped market if a novel writer's draft is as good as their final product. Yes, just like anything there is inefficiency, waste and even some corruption but that is the case even for building bridges or laying 3 lane roads. Maintenance is actually the most non-trivial part of any software esp. successful one and to discount it reflects the lack of sophistry on part of the actors who reside in C-suites.

thaumasiotes 8y ago
> Its like saying there is trillion dollars of untapped market if a novel writer's draft is as good as their final product. I mean, if you did say that, you'd have a point. It would be smaller than claimed, but there really was an untapped market opportunity. You can go to Amazon right now and buy cheap ebooks from self-published authors who obviously haven't had any editing done. The quality of writing in these is so poor that I've stopped being willing to buy self-published books, but the books do make sales. Completely eliminating the overhead costs of editing (because you don't do it) and publishing (because that's now cheap enough to be free) has opened up a market for low-price, low-quality stories.
- EpicEng 8y ago
  >The quality of writing in these is so poor that I've stopped being willing to buy self-published... Which is the entire point. Unlike books, software systems must continue to function and grow for years. You read a bad book and you toss it aside. You can sell bad software (which will never be fixed), but there's not really a market for it.
  - OtterCoder 8y ago
    I'm sorry, but you are almost certain to outlive your code, even the good stuff. Even a modest book on the bestseller lists will probably see more use than any program you will ever write.
    - EpicEng 8y ago
      You're missing the point. Books don't require maintenance, but the vast majority of software does. It's a poor analogy.
    - darkerside 8y ago
      What is your basis for this bizarre and personal statement? Code often does take on a life of its own when it's not expected. And it seems trivially obvious that a bestseller will see lots of use...
- rch 8y ago
  You could rephrase around movies instead of books, and then you would have happened upon the CGI market.

thaumasiotes 8y ago

> Its like saying there is trillion dollars of untapped market if a novel writer's draft is as good as their final product. I mean, if you did say that, you'd have a point. It would be smaller than claimed, but there really was an untapped market opportunity. You can go to Amazon right now and buy cheap ebooks from self-published authors who obviously haven't had any editing done. The quality of writing in these is so poor that I've stopped being willing to buy self-published books, but the books do make sales. Completely eliminating the overhead costs of editing (because you don't do it) and publishing (because that's now cheap enough to be free) has opened up a market for low-price, low-quality stories.

EpicEng 8y ago
>The quality of writing in these is so poor that I've stopped being willing to buy self-published... Which is the entire point. Unlike books, software systems must continue to function and grow for years. You read a bad book and you toss it aside. You can sell bad software (which will never be fixed), but there's not really a market for it.
- OtterCoder 8y ago
  I'm sorry, but you are almost certain to outlive your code, even the good stuff. Even a modest book on the bestseller lists will probably see more use than any program you will ever write.
  - EpicEng 8y ago
    You're missing the point. Books don't require maintenance, but the vast majority of software does. It's a poor analogy.
  - darkerside 8y ago
    What is your basis for this bizarre and personal statement? Code often does take on a life of its own when it's not expected. And it seems trivially obvious that a bestseller will see lots of use...
rch 8y ago
You could rephrase around movies instead of books, and then you would have happened upon the CGI market.