[ludoo]

Very well put. I have a similar (slightly younger) age, and often pose myself the same set of questions on speed, tooling, typing. Needless to say, my answers are very similar to yours.

As for the Design Process, it works in the exact same way you describe in other fields like Architecture, which I studied and practiced ages ago at a more than decent level.

Money (VCs'), the myth of the young billionaire, and a few other things are probably what make developing different.