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> If everyone just focused on business value and ignored the technology aspects then nothing would've been invented. > There would be no Internet, Web, VR, ML,
by dwheeler 8y ago
> If everyone just focused on business value and ignored the technology aspects then nothing would've been invented.
> There would be no Internet, Web, VR, ML, AI etc and we would all be writing assembler or using punch cards.
The Internet, Web, ML, and AI at least were all originally invented using research funding, not business funding. The Internet (specifically the TCP/IP suite) was funded by DARPA, the research arm of the US Department of Defense. So you're right that some people need to focus on something other than business value, but usually that is someone paid to do research, not paid to implement a specific solution that needs to be widely deployed within 1-3 years.
But if you're picking a product to use for a particular task, you aren't doing that kind of research. You are instead doing engineering. That is, you are determining how to solve a particular problem using the knowledge and resources (including reusable code) at hand. So you need to think to determine what collection of resources will actually do the job well, at reasonable cost and time, etc. Different problem.
- threeseed 8y agoAll of those I listed are completely different now to when they were first invented. To the point of being unrecognisable. And all of that is because of real world innovation from real world engineers solving real world problems. This anti-innovation mindset is just as damaging overall as everyone using the latest tools and ignoring the more proven ones.
- Jtsummers 8y agoHow is this article anti-innovation? It's saying, "Don't adopt a solution that doesn't actually fit your needs." It's not innovative to use MapReduce to do payroll reports at the end of a quarter, when a simple SQL query can produce the exact same thing. It's just silly. It's not innovative to select something that overfits your needs unless it actually prepares you for your (ideally known, but at least high confidence expectation) needs. I shouldn't drop a bunch of money on an underutilized system unless it offers enough benefit.
- bartread 8y ago> How is this article anti-innovation? Quite. And, as you've said, combining a bunch of tech you don't need into a poorly fitting solution isn't particularly innovative. The innovation tends to come from using the right tools for the job and creating a great solution using them.
- mrosett 8y ago> It's not innovative to use MapReduce to do payroll reports at the end of a quarter, when a simple SQL query can produce the exact same thing. I really, really hope this is just a random illustrative example.
- Jtsummers 8y agoYes. That’s not a thing I’ve seen in my office or any office I’ve been in. It was just an example.
- ska 8y agoThere is absolutely nothing "anti-innovation" about saying don't use technology designed for problems you don't have, for reasons you can't articulate. Innovation is driven by addressing problems people actually have with new ideas. Chasing taillights is a very poor driver for it.