[CyberDildonics]

This kind of maximal efficiency attitude

It's a company, efficiency is money. That's why companies exist.

why programs aren't "fun" anymore

Programs have nothing to do with this, you grabbed that out of thin air. This is about making an image.

Oftentimes, taking the scenic route instead of the highway is how you awe and inspire people; I know I was.

That's good advice for vacation, not a professional environment where someone is paying you for results.

[Dalewyn]

You clearly don't know what computing was like back when developers' passions were oozing out of pretty much everything they wrote. Even something as mundane as an icon left an impression.

These kinds of "Wait... Seriously? Wow!" stories play a big role in inspiring the next generation to come and do the work of the future. We're seeing far less of them now in computing, and everyone wonders why the younger generations aren't as inspired about technology anymore.

When everything is a brutal race to the bottom to fleece you for every damn bit you're worth, damn right everyone's going to find greener pastures to be inspired by.

[CyberDildonics]

What are you even talking about here? This was about people taking a photo for a windows logo.

[Dalewyn]

Yes, and one of the responses was to ask "But why?".

I'm answering why we should (within reason) splurge on these kinds of fun, seemingly pointless side tracks.

[CyberDildonics]

You went of on some tangent about the 'old days of passionate software developers' which seems like something that just happened to be on your mind, not something with any connection here.

When you say 'we' should splurge you really mean someone else.

Also this wasn't a splurge, this probably took less time to make than doing it in CG and people who can do the photography probably don't know how to do it in CG in the first place.