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> These companies have so much money that they can afford to do things like 10 million dollar POCs (which I've seen). Often they have literally 5+ different tea

> These companies have so much money that they can afford to do things like 10 million dollar POCs (which I've seen). Often they have literally 5+ different teams doing the same exact thing and will pick the best out of that list. Ugh. Reading stuff like this gets me deeply sad; what could have been done with that money and time instead? It makes me want to go escape to live in the hills, maybe even a full-on Wonko the Sane.

groestl 7y ago
Don't forget that capitalism (with companies), and life itself does things that way. It's not necessarily elegant (although some might say it's actually elegant), but it works.
- jordanbeiber 7y ago
  Off on a tangent here, but I also see it in way that David Graeber describes: "the rise of the bullshit job", which in many ways makes me think about the fact that a lot of it is not far from privatized basic income. A lot of us are being paid handsomely, but are we _really_ adding value to society by any other means that just being consumer machines? I find it interesting to ponder these things. =)
  - geezerjay 7y ago
    > which in many ways makes me think about the fact that a lot of it is not far from privatized basic income. Research grants also fit that description quite nicely.
- wool_gather 7y ago
  "It works", yeah, you're right, it does what it's meant to. Unstated, behind my angst, is the question of whether what its meant to do is actually worthwhile.
geezerjay 7y ago
> Ugh. Reading stuff like this gets me deeply sad; what could have been done with that money and time instead? You're assuming that an organization can whip out the best proposal possible at a moment's notice, which is highly unlikely. What you perceive as waste is simply development costs, without which the organization could not come up with the most competitive option possible. Complaining that having different teams working internally on a product is wasteful is just like complaining that a sports team that hiring backup players and running development league teams is wasteful.

groestl 7y ago

Don't forget that capitalism (with companies), and life itself does things that way. It's not necessarily elegant (although some might say it's actually elegant), but it works.

jordanbeiber 7y ago
Off on a tangent here, but I also see it in way that David Graeber describes: "the rise of the bullshit job", which in many ways makes me think about the fact that a lot of it is not far from privatized basic income. A lot of us are being paid handsomely, but are we _really_ adding value to society by any other means that just being consumer machines? I find it interesting to ponder these things. =)
- geezerjay 7y ago
  > which in many ways makes me think about the fact that a lot of it is not far from privatized basic income. Research grants also fit that description quite nicely.
wool_gather 7y ago
"It works", yeah, you're right, it does what it's meant to. Unstated, behind my angst, is the question of whether what its meant to do is actually worthwhile.

geezerjay 7y ago

> Ugh. Reading stuff like this gets me deeply sad; what could have been done with that money and time instead? You're assuming that an organization can whip out the best proposal possible at a moment's notice, which is highly unlikely. What you perceive as waste is simply development costs, without which the organization could not come up with the most competitive option possible. Complaining that having different teams working internally on a product is wasteful is just like complaining that a sports team that hiring backup players and running development league teams is wasteful.