[hinkley]

If you’ve never worked at a company that referred to R&D as a “cost center” then you have lived a blessed life.

Yes, making things people want to buy costs money. Most successful companies spend a certain fraction of their money on making what they sell. Making it cheaper just makes it cheaper. Which is definitely a choice one can make but few people respect the bargain brand.

Oddly the people who understand this the least also seem to care a lot about prestige, so I don’t understand how their brains work.