you didn't read the article. the author is not making a distinction between intangible value that's useful to the worker vs value that's useful to the customer.

you didn't read the article. the author is not making a distinction between intangible value that's useful to the worker vs value that's useful to the customer. they're making a distinction along the axes of intangible/tangible and short/long term, all of which is measured by usefulness to the customer. they're saying to be careful not to destroy long-term intangible value (that's of use to the future customer) in exchange for short term tangible value (also measured by the customer).