> Most companies have no economic incentive to spend this energy, therefore most software becomes poorly built over time. It's not because the engineers were bad or because they had bad culture, it's simply because we live in a capitalist world.
My frustration is that there is economic incentive, but it's diffuse and difficult to measure. And in today's culture across a broad swath of contexts, benefits that can't be measured are benefits that aren't valued.
This isn't unique to software development, but it is something that seems to be plaguing American thinking as a whole these days. Public education is extremely valuable, but it's a large cost and increasing numbers of people are skeptical of the benefits. Fixing potholes is expensive but it's surely less than the diffuse cost of fixing flat tires and broken axles. Public transit is expensive but the reduction in traffic and QOL benefits are large and widespread. Money spent on at-risk youth typically pays for itself many times over, but years later and in a difficult-to correlate reduction in policing and prison needs.
More and more we narrow our focus on short-term expenses at our of long-term detriment and it's becoming more and more apparent as a long, slow-moving rot growing from within.
My frustration is that there is economic incentive, but it's diffuse and difficult to measure. And in today's culture across a broad swath of contexts, benefits that can't be measured are benefits that aren't valued.
This isn't unique to software development, but it is something that seems to be plaguing American thinking as a whole these days. Public education is extremely valuable, but it's a large cost and increasing numbers of people are skeptical of the benefits. Fixing potholes is expensive but it's surely less than the diffuse cost of fixing flat tires and broken axles. Public transit is expensive but the reduction in traffic and QOL benefits are large and widespread. Money spent on at-risk youth typically pays for itself many times over, but years later and in a difficult-to correlate reduction in policing and prison needs.
More and more we narrow our focus on short-term expenses at our of long-term detriment and it's becoming more and more apparent as a long, slow-moving rot growing from within.