[stolee]

The comparison to hill-climbing algorithms is an interesting one, especially because the author ignores the fact that hill-climbing algorithms get stuck in local optima unless there is a way to “restart” the search from a new location. There is a time and place for big, risky changes to advance beyond what this “patch” approach can do.

[anbop]

I think this is what happened to Amazon. A series of locally optimized decisions like commingled inventory and 3rd party sellers that has turned the site into a used car dealership in some categories.