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Do you honestly think an ikea desk has "more expert craftsmanship" than a hand crafted by a woodworker desk?

dale_glass 4mo ago
In some ways, sure. The LACK (https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lack-side-table-white-30449908/ https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lack-side-table-white-30449908/) is probably one of the most optimized pieces of furniture you can buy. There's no hand crafted desk that can be this cheap. A wood worker won't even get out of bed for $17. Now is it an amazingly beautiful, rock solid, heirloom quality piece of furniture? No, but it's not trying to be that.
- jon_adler 4mo ago
  They also double as a nice and cheap server rack! https://wiki.eth0.nl/index.php/LackRack https://wiki.eth0.nl/index.php/LackRack
Jensson 4mo ago
Don't you think IKEA has expert engineers designing their furniture that will sell millions? Programming is the equivalent to designing a factory, not carving out wood pieces.
- abahgat 4mo ago
  Some programming is the equivalent to designing a factory, some programming is the equivalent to carving out wood pieces. I've worked in large organizations where a small number of staff+ engineers were approaching programming as factory, while many more engineers were obsessing about the details of their own narrowly-focused work and liked it that way. It feels like the scale is tipping more towards the factory model and, understandably, not everyone is excited about that.
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bryanlarsen 4mo ago
Definitely. Expert craftsmanship in cost optimization, in shipping optimization, in production/factory design and optimization, in material sourcing, in durability testing, in design for mass market appeal, in marketing material, in documentation, et cetera.
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iceflinger 4mo ago
I'm not sure why this even needs to be the comparison? Yes there is expert craftsmanship in the industrial scale design of ikea products, and yes there is expert craftsmanship in a bespoke, handmade wooden desk, but AI results in neither of these. It's cheap and disposable and tuned for putting up the appearance of something high quality without any of the actual intent that would be put behind either of the other two examples.

In some ways, sure. The LACK (https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lack-side-table-white-30449908/ https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lack-side-table-white-30449908/) is probably one of the most optimized pieces of furniture you can buy. There's no hand crafted desk that can be this cheap. A wood worker won't even get out of bed for $17. Now is it an amazingly beautiful, rock solid, heirloom quality piece of furniture? No, but it's not trying to be that.

jon_adler 4mo ago
They also double as a nice and cheap server rack! https://wiki.eth0.nl/index.php/LackRack https://wiki.eth0.nl/index.php/LackRack

Jensson 4mo ago

Don't you think IKEA has expert engineers designing their furniture that will sell millions? Programming is the equivalent to designing a factory, not carving out wood pieces.

abahgat 4mo ago
Some programming is the equivalent to designing a factory, some programming is the equivalent to carving out wood pieces. I've worked in large organizations where a small number of staff+ engineers were approaching programming as factory, while many more engineers were obsessing about the details of their own narrowly-focused work and liked it that way. It feels like the scale is tipping more towards the factory model and, understandably, not everyone is excited about that.

deleted 4mo ago

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bryanlarsen 4mo ago

Definitely. Expert craftsmanship in cost optimization, in shipping optimization, in production/factory design and optimization, in material sourcing, in durability testing, in design for mass market appeal, in marketing material, in documentation, et cetera.

deleted 4mo ago
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iceflinger 4mo ago

I'm not sure why this even needs to be the comparison? Yes there is expert craftsmanship in the industrial scale design of ikea products, and yes there is expert craftsmanship in a bespoke, handmade wooden desk, but AI results in neither of these. It's cheap and disposable and tuned for putting up the appearance of something high quality without any of the actual intent that would be put behind either of the other two examples.