There are two types of programs in this world: Those that solve problems and those that don't. When a program is written with a real and important goal in mind it is successful. When it's done simply to "do something cool" it dies by the way side, starved of actual attention. However, hope is not lost. Simply-cool programs still have a chance to shine, but that comes after a serious makeover, transforming them from a technological show-off to a purposeful instrument. Their new shining success comes from a visionary who recognizes the world-changing potential behind the simply-cool, and then takes the vision, shares it, and makes it into a reality. If we never see past the simply-cool, we'll be stuck in our dark cubicles, never recognizing the power of our programs until it's too late.
I think there is another way of naming these two classes of programs - those that do something the user actually needs or wants, and those that do what the programmer thinks they want. That is at least as deadly of a trap.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see an example of what you mean, because I feel like there are plenty of successful programs that don't solve problems (games).
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