[Toenex]

> A big (2B+ $) company. The division in the middle of UK. They make Set Top Boxes - they are somehow good at that.

So, despite what the author thinks about their methods and their technology choices and despite anecdotal intermediate performance indicators ("Solving bug takes ages") whatever they are doing is working.

How many start-ups do we read about on HN that are using the latest and greatest language/framework/stack/methodology and yet don't yet have a business?

[chuable]

Interesting way to look at it. You could look at it another way and say what whatever they were doing before worked and got them this far. However, will what they are doing work for their continued future?

[TheOtherHobbes]

It might. It might not.

What would the technical and cultural cost of moving to a different toolchain be?

The author seems to think that obviously moving to modern tools would be better.

Would it? Or would it just add to the chaos? Would build times really improve, would debugging become easier and more streamlined, would issue tracking improve?

My guess is that changing the entire culture to the point where there were real, measurable benefits would take from a few months to a year, with a lot of unproductive downtime.

The current toolchain is not optimal, but it still sort of works. And in a limited environment like set-top, it will probably continue to work.

Bottom line: don't innovate tools for the sake of it. Innovate if it's going to give you more customers and more profit. But not otherwise.

[cheatsheet]

Real innovation doesn't lead with absolute certainty, it does not know whether it will lead to a reward. I really don't understand the mentality here where everyone thinks they know what they are doing before they do it. I can understand the need to have confidence and the desire to measure out a metric of predictive possibilities, but they are only predictions. For some things, you really don't know what will happen until it happens - especially when it involves chaotic systems such as people and their wants/needs/desires.

[keithpeter]

Quote from OA

"Instead of solving the situation, they add more and more advanced tools on top of existing software development chain..."

I'm wondering if those layers of more advanced tools could be re-written piecemeal so that they pointed to a more rational underlying system? Sort of jacking the house up to work on the foundations?

PS: Saltaire (I'm guessing) is a lovely town and the 1853 Gallery at Salts Mill is a must if you are in the neighbourhood.

[Toenex]

Yes I thought of Pace too. I second a visit to Salts Mill. Great collection of Hockney's.