la la laaaa

Joel Spolsky's Hitting the High Notes. (a.k.a. why hiring good programmers matters)

"So, why isn't there room in the software industry for a low cost provider, someone who uses the cheapest programmers available? (Remind me to ask Quark how that whole fire-everybody-and-hire-low-cost-replacements plan is working.)

Here's why: duplication of software is free. That means that the cost of programmers is spread out over all the copies of the software you sell. With software, you can improve quality without adding to the incremental cost of each unit sold.

Essentially, design adds value faster than it adds cost.

Or, roughly speaking, if you try to skimp on programmers, you'll make crappy software, and you won't even save that much money."


Eric Sink's response article.

"I really like this metaphor, but it's a two-sided coin. High notes are amazing, but harmony is powerful. I am not disagreeing with Joel's metaphor. Rather, I like his metaphor so much that I want to finish it. Joel spoke of individual talent in terms of a soloist. I want to speak of team talent in terms of a choir."


// random personal thing
Theresa and I saw Serenity and I absolutely loved it. Joss doesn't disappoint, and IMHO the fans hopes for the movie have been realized. Thanks Joss.