| "We get our money from customers" doesn't actually cover many other very real use cases. Let's try: - We get our money from bosses who want higher headcounts to justify their position. - We get our money from competitive poaching, so that if GOOG/MSFT/FB has us the other firms don't. - We get our money from salespeople tricking customers into buying our products. This deception is easier if the products actually meet a need, but that isn't required. - We get our money from VC firms playing pyramid games. - We get our money from government grants that need to get spent or funding gets cut next year. - We get our money from grants that have to be spent to show investment in "innovation" or "modernization". - We get our money from selling out users to drive advertising clicks. - We get our money because...BTC is stupidly volatile. ~ It's extremely naive, in the modern economy, to say "herp derp just deliver value to customers and you'll get paid what you're worth". EDIT: Nice downvotes. Again, consider that maybe the modern economy is so twisted and weird in software dev that maaaaybe this simple Protestant work-ethic narrative doesn't actually hold water. Sorry to burst your bubble. |
> We get our money from selling out users to drive advertising clicks.
Advertisers are the real customer and users the product and all that. This perverse incentive is the driver of most garbage on the web. And not only is the user sold out, they are manipulated by the advertising, the products (e.g. search results, news pages) are manipulated, and now elections are manipulated (Because Facebook et al designed to put the user first would not have spread viral bullshit).
Engineers need to put morality and social good above making more money. Greed is not the god that people should be worshiping and designing economic systems around.