[bjt]

Slightly agree. :)

I don't think handmade shoes are the right comparison, unless you're talking about software that's meant to be used by just one person.

The more apt comparison might be to the engineers building and maintaining the manufacturing equipment in the shoe factory. It's a degree removed from the consumer, but there's definitely still craftsmanship involved there.

[lelandfe]

Going to be awfully hard to market rote machine maintenance as craftsmanship, but there are some suckers out there

[bjt]

If you've ever watched an episode of "How It's Made" and seen how incredibly customized these machines are, it won't be surprising that the people who build them are proud of their work.

[lelandfe]

My skepticism of the marketability of this idea deepens