On one end of the spectrum we have DHH who advocates scratching your own itches. On the other end of the spectrum, we have people like you and Patrick (patio11)

On one end of the spectrum we have DHH who advocates scratching your own itches. On the other end of the spectrum, we have people like you and Patrick (patio11) reminding everyone that there are huge, virtually untapped markets which are typically not well served by programmers. My take is that both strategies will work if implemented correctly. In the case of "products for others", heavily relying on customer development and similar Lean Startup principles will be particularly important, given that you are not a customer of your own product, and therefore may not fully grasp your customers' problems and requirements.