The Diminishing Returns of Everything
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The Diminishing Returns of Everything
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Re: The Diminishing Returns of Everything
#2> For instance, I spend the past two days working on a single CSS file, in an attempt to center-align some stupid buttons (a futile attempt, since they are still not aligned). In comparison, at the beginning of the project, I built out the entire REST backend of the web app in a single afternoon.
It could be argued that the value of the REST backend is lower than the value of the stupid buttons: since the backend is so simple, everybody can do it, while the stupid button takes a wizard to get right. On the market, your commoditized REST backend will have to compete with other solutions on the quality of your stupid buttons.
Hence, spend even less time on the backend, by using auto-generators, and focus all your time on the button. Buttons are a big dollar business.
Damn, I wish a had a CRUD-auto-generator-business, this would be the perfect plug. Check out auto-crud-button-focus.com right now!
/edit: adding the [irony] tag before I get more insulted "WHAT???!?!?!?"s (I know nothing about backend stuff, I work in embedded and electronics)
Re: The Diminishing Returns of Everything
#3[deleted]
Re: The Diminishing Returns of Everything
#4> For instance, I spend the past two days working on a single CSS file, in an attempt to center-align some stupid buttons (a futile attempt, since they are still not aligned). In comparison, at the beginning of the project, I built out the entire REST backend of the web app in a single afternoon. It could be argued that the value of the REST backend is lower than the value of the stupid buttons: since the backend is…
> since the backend is so simple, everybody can do it, while the stupid button takes a wizard to get right
What?!?!?!
Re: The Diminishing Returns of Everything
#5> For instance, I spend the past two days working on a single CSS file, in an attempt to center-align some stupid buttons (a futile attempt, since they are still not aligned). In comparison, at the beginning of the project, I built out the entire REST backend of the web app in a single afternoon. It could be argued that the value of the REST backend is lower than the value of the stupid buttons: since the backend is…
> It could be argued that the value of the REST backend is lower than the value of the stupid buttons: since the backend is so simple, everybody can do it, while the stupid button takes a wizard to get right.
Yeah, or the first piece of sushi that a classically-trained French chef makes should probably go in the dog’s bowl.
Re: The Diminishing Returns of Everything
#6That's why you pay contractors / specialized people.
A 2-day electrical job would probably have taken me a month to complete working evenings / week-ends, assuming no other house maintenance on the side, and the job would certainly have been sub-optimal and I'd have selected overkill components. Same goes about a plumbing job, it's not rocket science, but working in tight spaces can be tricky/messy, professionals know how to do it.
As for the backend, it's easy to spin up if you know the tech, have done it a couple of times and know what to do. Given enough time, I could probably design an IoT gadget from the ground up. FPGA conception, ASIC design, then PCB integration, spin up, mechanical design, network interfacing, back & front end services. But not only the end product will certainly be over-engineered, but it will have taken me 2 years to build and I would have no idea how to sell it.
I had a family member who cashed out in the SV and then tanked his next start-up. Long story short, he's a business guy, not a tech guy. He lost 3 years on fairly simple MVP, then finally decided to pay someone, but it was too late.
I guess the morale of the story is to know ones own limits...
Re: The Diminishing Returns of Everything
#7I can see why it feels this way, but often times it seems to me the opposite is true, like a phase transition: it remains a bunch of commits until at some point it 'suddenly' becomes a product, usable by the designated users, solving a problem, possibly generating revenue.
Like water that cools and cools and eventually turns to ice, even though that last quarter degree didn't change the temperature a lot.
Re: The Diminishing Returns of Everything
#8But let me put it in perspective, if I wasn't wasting my time moving that button, I'd probably be watching youtube.
Is that wasted? Was it truly 3 hours lost for the OP trying to automate the light switch?
Nihilism. Do what you believe is worth it. Otherwise, don't because it's simply not worth it.
Re: The Diminishing Returns of Everything
#9There are diminishing returns in everything because we focus on high impact things first. It's not a bug, it's a feature.
Re: The Diminishing Returns of Everything
#10> For instance, I spend the past two days working on a single CSS file, in an attempt to center-align some stupid buttons (a futile attempt, since they are still not aligned). In comparison, at the beginning of the project, I built out the entire REST backend of the web app in a single afternoon. It could be argued that the value of the REST backend is lower than the value of the stupid buttons: since the backend is…
> since the backend is so simple, everybody can do it, while the stupid button takes a wizard to get right What?!?!?!
That was, as the saying goeth, the joke.