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It's okay to make something nobody wants
101–110 of 208 posts
Re: It's okay to make something nobody wants
#102Bookmarking this to return to whenever I feel down on myself. I’ve been working on a side project for way too long, and I’m scared to publicize it because I don’t know whether it’s a terrible idea that everyone will hate.
But all I know is that I don’t hate it; I find it super interesting.
Re: It's okay to make something nobody wants
#103Cute sentiments, but I also like to eat.
Yea like.... I've been "following my heart" or whatever for over 15 years... sure, I made some cool shit, and some people really like it. But it doesn't pay. I need money.
To invent something objectively novel and significant. To spend a fair chunk of your life on that quest. And to get zero monetary compensation for it. To be ignored that way. It's educational.
Re: It's okay to make something nobody wants
#104Bookmarking this to return to whenever I feel down on myself. I’ve been working on a side project for way too long, and I’m scared to publicize it because I don’t know whether it’s a terrible idea that everyone will hate. But all I know is that I don’t hate it; I find it super interesting. https://matry.design
That looks pretty sweet! I can immediately see how there could be a companion framework that turns those descriptions into clickable prototypes, and how translation between designer and product people becomes really smooth. I love it!
Re: It's okay to make something nobody wants
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have that feeling trying to improve dev practices in a shop that had none. Years of effort and we’re barely at the point my previous place was at before I even started there.
Why care? The only reason I point stuff out at my current company is because I don't want to get on a performance improvement plan because of their dumb work forecasting solutions
Because caring IS the entire point. I think you'd be better served to ask "Why do?"
Re: It's okay to make something nobody wants
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems like his point is the inverse: if you don't want it, how will anyone else?
I don't think any software I have been paid to work on has been something I personally want, but there sure are a lot of companies that want it.
What about a more subtle take? Have you built things in the same way that you'd do it in a personal context? Had a feeling of "doing the right thing"? Put care into your work?
Re: It's okay to make something nobody wants
#107Lately i have been wondering about the weird projects that people make- the “I built a web application framework in brainfuck” or “I built a text based bitmap image editor” or “I loaded an LLM on a Speak’n’Spell” kind of projects (I made up all of those but see similar on HN every day). I understand passion projects and the article hints that might be the reason, but I just don’t understand why people would spend suc…
> I understand passion projects and the article hints that might be the reason, but I just don’t understand why people would spend such enormous amounts of effort on such weird projects. There's a great side-effect to these quirky projects. There's a Christian/Bible story called The Unmoved Rock. Essentially God tells some guy to go push against a huge boulder and he damn well near kills himself trying to move it ove…
> There's a Christian/Bible story called The Unmoved Rock.
Where did you learn this story?
I'm curious, because it's a cute little anecdote/illustration, but I'm fairly confident it's not in the Protestant Bible, having read that several times.
Re: It's okay to make something nobody wants
#108I do it all the time. I'd say that 90% of the work I've done, over the last couple of decades, has lain fallow, died quietly in a corner, or been outright rejected.
But that 10%...
If nothing else, it's practice.
But, whatever it is, we always need to power through the "boring bits," to make our dream a reality.
Re: It's okay to make something nobody wants
#109Lately i have been wondering about the weird projects that people make- the “I built a web application framework in brainfuck” or “I built a text based bitmap image editor” or “I loaded an LLM on a Speak’n’Spell” kind of projects (I made up all of those but see similar on HN every day). I understand passion projects and the article hints that might be the reason, but I just don’t understand why people would spend suc…
“Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young
Re: It's okay to make something nobody wants
#110I do it all the time. I'd say that 90% of the work I've done, over the last couple of decades, has lain fallow, died quietly in a corner, or been outright rejected. But that 10%... If nothing else, it's practice. But, whatever it is, we always need to power through the "boring bits," to make our dream a reality.
10% is a good percentage, it's been 0% for me. Then again, my best art project has been https://imgz.org, which I knew wasn't really going to get used much by other people.