Developers aren't machines. "What should we work on today?" should not always be calculated as a function of "what provides the most immediate business value."

Developers aren't machines. "What should we work on today?" should not always be calculated as a function of "what provides the most immediate business value." Happy developers attempt harder problems, don't leave their current job to go work on $shiny_thing, and think about their latest project in the shower. All of which are of significant benefit to Dropbox. That's not to say that you can't lose a lot of money refactoring working code — I dislike rewrites, they always cause unforeseen problems. But great software isn't a function of how many hours you've put into it. It's a complex result of developer morale, time, energy, experience, and skills, and there's a huge benefit to "hey I can think in a language that makes sense to me, instead of remembering weird bugs I have to work around." It's thinking on a higher plane. It lets you more easily load the program into your head. [1] And it can be all the difference if you want a truly exceptional product. [2] [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/head.html http://www.paulgraham.com/head.html [2] http://www.paulgraham.com/power.html http://www.paulgraham.com/power.html