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That's just shitty software though. Good software gets out of the way and improves something. We could speculate on how to fix that scenario, but there's probab

That's just shitty software though. Good software gets out of the way and improves something. We could speculate on how to fix that scenario, but there's probably no incentive - in my experience there are fixations amongst tech people on profit-less ideas that end up getting squeezed awkwardly into applications such as bill splitting, digital ordering etc.

thebradbain 4y ago
I completely agree. Software Engineers are no less prone to “when you only know how to use a hammer, everything looks like a nail” as anyone else. There’s so many things we keep trying to shoehorn tech into that don’t need it— electronic ordering/serving food, planning a small gathering of friends, making a smoothie [1], “smart” fridges/toasters/stoves… these are all adding unnecessary knobs and bobbles to things humanity has gotten by just fine with for ages (the first since the dawn of civilization!) As a general rule to “will this be tech useful” I think in terms of scale— is this new tech enabling/helping me to do/manage something 10x-100x better than I could with existing tools? Sure, I can organize a single dinner/cocktail party of a couple dozen people via paper invites or text messages and phone calls to caterers, and using tech for that is likely introducing unnecessary overhead, but if I’m a planner organizing many weddings of 100+ for a living then, yeah, obviously a party-planning management software will be of use. If not, its value is likely not worth the hassle. [1] https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/01/juicero-silicon-valley-shutting-down https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/01/juicero-s...
- jaredhallen 4y ago
  Having been employed in tech for over 20 years, I have found myself leaning further this way over time. The simplest solution is usually the best.

thebradbain 4y ago

I completely agree. Software Engineers are no less prone to “when you only know how to use a hammer, everything looks like a nail” as anyone else. There’s so many things we keep trying to shoehorn tech into that don’t need it— electronic ordering/serving food, planning a small gathering of friends, making a smoothie [1], “smart” fridges/toasters/stoves… these are all adding unnecessary knobs and bobbles to things humanity has gotten by just fine with for ages (the first since the dawn of civilization!) As a general rule to “will this be tech useful” I think in terms of scale— is this new tech enabling/helping me to do/manage something 10x-100x better than I could with existing tools? Sure, I can organize a single dinner/cocktail party of a couple dozen people via paper invites or text messages and phone calls to caterers, and using tech for that is likely introducing unnecessary overhead, but if I’m a planner organizing many weddings of 100+ for a living then, yeah, obviously a party-planning management software will be of use. If not, its value is likely not worth the hassle. [1] https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/01/juicero-silicon-valley-shutting-down https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/01/juicero-s...

jaredhallen 4y ago
Having been employed in tech for over 20 years, I have found myself leaning further this way over time. The simplest solution is usually the best.