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Only skimmed it...but yeah, not worth reading. Unless you're one of today's 10K, it's mostly obvious stuff. And if there's any real structure or "big picture"

Only skimmed it...but yeah, not worth reading. Unless you're one of today's 10K, it's mostly obvious stuff. And if there's any real structure or "big picture" to the article, I couldn't spot it.

PaulHoule 2y ago
As a crazy fast reader I liked it but now that I think about it, problems with product quality were a major preoccupation of the 1970s. There is a triangle between inflation <-> poor quality <-> shortages in that these all stem from the same root and the proportion in which they manifest depend on the system (e.g. in Soviet Russia they could legislate prices but couldn't legislate availability of products) It was the decade of Ralph Nader. See https://www.amazon.com/Why-Nothing-Works-Anthropology-Original/dp/0671635778 https://www.amazon.com/Why-Nothing-Works-Anthropology-Origin... https://www.amazon.com/Out-Crisis-W-Edwards-Deming/dp/0521305535 https://www.amazon.com/Out-Crisis-W-Edwards-Deming/dp/052130... https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Narcissism-American-Diminishing-Expectations/dp/0393356175 https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Narcissism-American-Diminishi... A few themes could be broken out, not least "mongo sucks" (I never worked at a company that didn't trust the database they used at all until I worked at one that used mongo) and a meditation on "buy" vs "build" that leans heavily towards build. (When I hear the word "integration" I reach for my keyboard and code up a 15-line python script while management is on hold waiting to hear what the "call us" price is)
- javcasas 2y ago
  > When I hear the word "integration" I reach for my keyword and code up a 15-line python script while management is on hold waiting to hear what the "call us" price is Stop doing that. Management wants someone to blame when things go wrong. Don't be that one for no extra compensation.
- Der_Einzige 2y ago
  Ralph Nader is a saint and democrats need to ask why 200K democrats stayed home in Florida in 2000, not why Nader got 3%…
TheOtherHobbes 2y ago
It's interesting. But it rambles and doesn't draw any actionable conclusions, beyond "Sometimes it's a good idea to be annoying and push back if you think things are going in a bad direction." Essentially he's talking about enshittification, but he doesn't break down the core issue - which is that US corporate culture is authoritarian and narcissistic. So the true underlying motivation in many interactions is assertion of superiority for sellers, and the creation of an illusion of superiority for buyers. Both are entirely orthogonal to objective quality.

Only skimmed it...but yeah, not worth reading. Unless you're one of today's 10K, it's mostly obvious stuff. And if there's any real structure or "big picture" to the article, I couldn't spot it.

PaulHoule 2y ago

As a crazy fast reader I liked it but now that I think about it, problems with product quality were a major preoccupation of the 1970s. There is a triangle between inflation <-> poor quality <-> shortages in that these all stem from the same root and the proportion in which they manifest depend on the system (e.g. in Soviet Russia they could legislate prices but couldn't legislate availability of products) It was the decade of Ralph Nader. See https://www.amazon.com/Why-Nothing-Works-Anthropology-Original/dp/0671635778 https://www.amazon.com/Why-Nothing-Works-Anthropology-Origin... https://www.amazon.com/Out-Crisis-W-Edwards-Deming/dp/0521305535 https://www.amazon.com/Out-Crisis-W-Edwards-Deming/dp/052130... https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Narcissism-American-Diminishing-Expectations/dp/0393356175 https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Narcissism-American-Diminishi... A few themes could be broken out, not least "mongo sucks" (I never worked at a company that didn't trust the database they used at all until I worked at one that used mongo) and a meditation on "buy" vs "build" that leans heavily towards build. (When I hear the word "integration" I reach for my keyboard and code up a 15-line python script while management is on hold waiting to hear what the "call us" price is)

javcasas 2y ago
> When I hear the word "integration" I reach for my keyword and code up a 15-line python script while management is on hold waiting to hear what the "call us" price is Stop doing that. Management wants someone to blame when things go wrong. Don't be that one for no extra compensation.
Der_Einzige 2y ago
Ralph Nader is a saint and democrats need to ask why 200K democrats stayed home in Florida in 2000, not why Nader got 3%…

TheOtherHobbes 2y ago

It's interesting. But it rambles and doesn't draw any actionable conclusions, beyond "Sometimes it's a good idea to be annoying and push back if you think things are going in a bad direction." Essentially he's talking about enshittification, but he doesn't break down the core issue - which is that US corporate culture is authoritarian and narcissistic. So the true underlying motivation in many interactions is assertion of superiority for sellers, and the creation of an illusion of superiority for buyers. Both are entirely orthogonal to objective quality.