Fully agree with the author except two things. First, I think he is biased by his own job and missed looking beyond the curtain: the problem he describes is no

Fully agree with the author except two things. First, I think he is biased by his own job and missed looking beyond the curtain: the problem he describes is not specific to software development. What he describes as "Institutional recklessness and callous lack of empathy for users" is, in my opinion, much more widespread than just software development. I observe this almost everywhere: my health services, my food, my furniture, my electronics, my transportation, my holidays, etc. The only industries where I still observe some degree of reliability or excellence are products/services heavily regulated and subject to the most stringent QA processes, and sport athletes. Anything else that is not thoroughly tested, vetted, certified and constantly subject to systematic rejection due to failure to achieve a high standard ends up being shipped broken. Second, I do not believe a call to arms is necessary. At all. The reason for this, in my opinion, is because most people seem to be fine with how things are. I guess some wish they could get reliability, but I bet most will never fight for it. Many people do not even realize that they deserve to be treated better as customers/consumers than they are, in my opinion. So, yes, while I agree with the general thesis (software is shipped broken, devs do not care anymore, stuff simply ends up being fixed iteratively through constant alpha testing by consumers who paid for a reliable product), I disagree that there is anything to do but surrender and start playing by its rules. I have been working as a technology consultant for more than 20 years. I noticed this trend of increasing mediocrity and fought it for years. Only result is I am the one getting tired. Recently, I started caring much less about my quality of work. I stopped working late night to complete writing my reports or learn stuff, I stopped doing exhaustive research to give the best recommendations, I stopped giving presentations and sharing my knowledge with my peers, I stopped throwing new ideas or improvement suggestions at work, I stopped reviewing thoroughly any document when asked by a friend or colleague, etc. Guess what? I get constantly rewarded for being mediocre: more money, customers never been happier, colleagues feel more secure around me, I get asked much less questions by my boss and I get plenty of time to play video games. Welcome to mediocre-istan.