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I think that the comparison between software and physical goods breaks down a bit in this particular instance. If you don't have a snowblower, no amount of tim
by fouric 6y ago
I think that the comparison between software and physical goods breaks down a bit in this particular instance.
If you don't have a snowblower, no amount of time spent on your own will allow you to get one - you have to get the physical parts from somewhere.
If you don't have a particular piece of software, you can often write it yourself, with some time, but without paying another person or needing to find a physical good.
As the difficulty of using a piece of software increases, the cost-benefit tradeoff tilts more toward "write it yourself".
- abakker 6y agoFull disclosure, I have a pretty sophisticated home machine shop, so I could have built a lot of a snow blower by hand. OTOH, I have a minimal knowledge of software dev- mostly the cut/paste kind. It is usually easier to start with most of the right parts, though.
- drewzero1 6y agoI've come to accept that there are certain pieces of imagined software that I could not reasonably expect to write myself, regardless of the amount of time given or my own meager brainpower. As the difficulty of writing a piece of software (or coordinating the components thereof) increases, the tradeoff invariably tips back toward trying to make somebody else's software work.