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by JulianRaphael
1901 days ago
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I'd argue that this not only applies to software but to all of human creation. Very few creators are craftsmen and very few consumers value craftsmanship. Creating software jewels requires mastery of many skills, many of which are not purely technical but involve an understanding of human behaviour. These skills can only be acquired by studying a field with a certain kind of devotion that very few people have. Real craftsmanship happens when work becomes intuitive, which happens once the basic skills have been perfected and there is enough understanding of other areas that might seem tangential, but further enhance the craftsman's creativity on a level that can't be really learned from manuals or documentation. There are very few employers that allow you to work like that. Then you need people who are willing to pay for the product that the craftsman creates. Corporations generally don't value craftsmanship. Consumers are not willing to pay the price. In the past, you had royals and aristocrats who would pay for works of craftsmanship for prestige. Who are the modern patrons of craftsmanship? I would love to see some Silicon Valley billionaires fund software craftsmen, but very few of them put their money to work in such impactful ways. |
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I have not found the same willingness to pay for quality amongst consumers, though. Counter-intuitively, the sort of hyper-knowledgeable "pro" consumers I come across are typically less willing to open their wallets than people who know nothing.