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I quite like Jonathan Blow. I think the talk mentioned in this post is kind of poor though, I remember watching it a couple of years ago in its full context (ht

I quite like Jonathan Blow. I think the talk mentioned in this post is kind of poor though, I remember watching it a couple of years ago in its full context (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSRHeXYDLko https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSRHeXYDLko). IIRC it had a bit of a "kids these days" / "they don't make 'em like they used to" feel to it. It's not untrue, but it doesn't really explain anything. IMO, a MUCH BETTER version of a similar point was outlined by Bert Hubert in this article: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/how-tech-loses-out/ https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/how-tech-loses-out/ - How Tech Loses Out over at Companies, Countries and Continents (Video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQccNdwm8Tw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQccNdwm8Tw) In short, this goes beyond software; it's in general about why the incentives around specialization and outsourcing/offshoring cause innovation and expertise to die out. Bert Hubert takes the example of toasters, but it's of course very generalizable: > The problem is that this is not just a toaster problem. This is a continental problem. All over Europe, this is happening simultaneously, where we’re saying, look, we’re not that much into actually building things anymore. > So we’re just getting everyone else to build stuff for us. [...] We’re just thinking about things and then telling some other people how to do their stuff. > In the end, you cannot survive if all you create is intellectual property.

onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
> In the end, you cannot survive if all you create is intellectual property. Why not? Anyone can do. Doing the right stuff is what matters. If you're unwilling to do (Europe, generally), and you can't even come up with good things that need done anymore, that seems like a problem. I don't think Europe is there. I would argue it's a bigger problem to be focused too much on doing, and not focused enough on direction. You can probably make a convincing argument that direction is random, and no one is good at setting it, but people at least believe other people can do this - and IP / ideas are currently where the money is. Like, is Apple's IP actually valuable? Who cares. It makes a ton of money. Anyone can put together their phones.
- scrollaway 4y ago
  > Why not? You're replying to a snippet of a fairly significant and long talk. If it sparked your interest, I invite you to read or watch the full thing. He answers the "why" later down, but "not surviving" is not really the important part at all. It's about how we globally lose out on innovation, ingenuity and new ideas, by not fostering the right environment for creativity when we outsource everything. Really, Bert Hubert is fantastic, and this article/talk should be a required reading for all startup founders and entrepreneurs in general.
- Test0129 4y ago
  The complication isn't in the "anyone can do it" it's the more meaty subject of intellectual property and in general globalism. If you get your people in your country/continent to build your stuff you have effectively a revolving door of people whose skills are available to you, laws are amicable and familiar, and their taxes go to improving the land you built on. If you outsource things you may get it cheaper (labor arbitrage) while maintaining high profit margins on your IP. The problem comes when that country goes through an industrial revolution, or discusses worker rights, or gets into a shouting match with your country. Now, you may be forced to get labor in your country at which point you'll start from the bottom. Worse yet, you've given those other countries your IP. IP laws are not international. Once your country becomes enemies of theirs they will certainly begin building your stuff to the exact same quality specifications you had them build it to. We see this quite frequently with China. It is no coincidence a new product releases in the west, and after a short time, the exact same product with the same pieces under a different name is found on Alibaba. Long term, this is not a survivable situation. IP is effectively worthless if you don't control the labor that can build it. We do this typically through patents and trademarks. Once you lose control over that you lose control over your IP. No amount of trying to take another country to court will save you.
  - onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
    > IP laws are not international. Once your country becomes enemies of theirs they will certainly begin building your stuff to the exact same quality specifications you had them build it to. A lot of IP value is actually the brand. Anyone can steal Pixar's technology and make a 3d film. People aren't going to watch it. Anyone can steal Apple's designs (although I doubt they can realistically get the entire supply chain). No one's paying top dollar for a knock-off iPhone.

onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago

> In the end, you cannot survive if all you create is intellectual property. Why not? Anyone can do. Doing the right stuff is what matters. If you're unwilling to do (Europe, generally), and you can't even come up with good things that need done anymore, that seems like a problem. I don't think Europe is there. I would argue it's a bigger problem to be focused too much on doing, and not focused enough on direction. You can probably make a convincing argument that direction is random, and no one is good at setting it, but people at least believe other people can do this - and IP / ideas are currently where the money is. Like, is Apple's IP actually valuable? Who cares. It makes a ton of money. Anyone can put together their phones.

scrollaway 4y ago
> Why not? You're replying to a snippet of a fairly significant and long talk. If it sparked your interest, I invite you to read or watch the full thing. He answers the "why" later down, but "not surviving" is not really the important part at all. It's about how we globally lose out on innovation, ingenuity and new ideas, by not fostering the right environment for creativity when we outsource everything. Really, Bert Hubert is fantastic, and this article/talk should be a required reading for all startup founders and entrepreneurs in general.
Test0129 4y ago
The complication isn't in the "anyone can do it" it's the more meaty subject of intellectual property and in general globalism. If you get your people in your country/continent to build your stuff you have effectively a revolving door of people whose skills are available to you, laws are amicable and familiar, and their taxes go to improving the land you built on. If you outsource things you may get it cheaper (labor arbitrage) while maintaining high profit margins on your IP. The problem comes when that country goes through an industrial revolution, or discusses worker rights, or gets into a shouting match with your country. Now, you may be forced to get labor in your country at which point you'll start from the bottom. Worse yet, you've given those other countries your IP. IP laws are not international. Once your country becomes enemies of theirs they will certainly begin building your stuff to the exact same quality specifications you had them build it to. We see this quite frequently with China. It is no coincidence a new product releases in the west, and after a short time, the exact same product with the same pieces under a different name is found on Alibaba. Long term, this is not a survivable situation. IP is effectively worthless if you don't control the labor that can build it. We do this typically through patents and trademarks. Once you lose control over that you lose control over your IP. No amount of trying to take another country to court will save you.
- onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
  > IP laws are not international. Once your country becomes enemies of theirs they will certainly begin building your stuff to the exact same quality specifications you had them build it to. A lot of IP value is actually the brand. Anyone can steal Pixar's technology and make a 3d film. People aren't going to watch it. Anyone can steal Apple's designs (although I doubt they can realistically get the entire supply chain). No one's paying top dollar for a knock-off iPhone.