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Playing a classical piece music. You’ll never be anywhere near the top musicians, but people still do it because it’s enjoyable. They also share it with others.
Painting: you’re not a professional, but creating and sharing your works is still a joy.
As others have mentioned, a pie is consumable, and thus a good one has value even if it isn't original. But a slight change to the original scenario makes asking about originality much more reasonable: Imagine you write a peach pie recipe over the weekend, and you give a copy of the recipe to your friend. They respond: "Wait, how is this different from every other peach pie recipe that's ever been written? It seems r…
> pie is consumable More precisely, it's a rival good [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivalry_(economics)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> pie is consumable More precisely, it's a rival good [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivalry_(economics)
More precisely, you mean more generally, not more precisely. Saying pie is a consumable and a rival good are equally accurate, but the former is more precise, as the former is a subset of the latter.
No, I meant what I wrote. Another comment mentioned a chair [1]. A comfortable chair is not consumable, but it is rival. Rivalry is what makes pies and code economically distinct, not consumability.
Put another way, if you have access to infinite identical pies, they behave like code. They're still consumable. But not rival.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m genuinely confused by your comment. Pies can be duplicated. You just grab the same ingredients and follow the same recipe. Same thing happens with software. You grab the same libraries and languages and build the same thing. I think I get what you’re trying to say when it comes to software but sometimes one might switch even if the new software doesn’t offer new solutions.
> I’m genuinely confused by your comment. Pies can be duplicated. You just grab the same ingredients and follow the same recipe. That’s just a different pie made with the same ingredients and recipe, it’s not the same pie I ate yesterday, it’s not a duplicate. I can never have that pie I ate yesterday again. I can, however, make as many perfect duplicates of software as I want.
Pie of Theseus has entered the chat
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> When I was in a band, one of the most valuable things my songwriting friends and I did for each other was tell each other when our work sounded like something that was already out there. I'm a big advocate for originality, but its worth noting that most bands will have covered at least one song. > If you make a new piece of software and offer it to a friend to use, it's not unreasonable for them to ask how it's dif…
Sure, you do covers, and everyone knows the difference between a cover and an original. Even so, bands that do original music often try to do the cover in their own style, so the question of "how is this different from the original" is still relevant.
Everyone? You'd be amazed at the number of songs people think are the originals but are actually covers. I bet there's some songs even you didn't realise were covers
> Even so, bands that do original music often try to do the cover in their own style
"often" is a pretty telling term here because it's also often when the cover is extremely faithful to the original.
> so the question of "how is this different from the original" is still relevant.
People ask that question about all sorts of things. But what the point originally being inferred was, is that if the secondary item isn't distinct enough from the original then the secondary item doesn't have much value. And I'm making a point that doesn't apply to music (and nor do I believe it applies to baking either).
The entire premise of some pastimes, such as karaoke, is centred around the concept of replication rather than originality.
Personally, I prefer originality over replication too. but it would be stupid for me to ignore the fact that a significant number of the worlds population just want to enjoy something without caring about how original it is.
> The friend has assumed that your goal is to "efficiently" reach the goal of a delicious pie, or perhaps even to create a new kind of pie. But that's not the goal at all! > Baking a pie is a creative act. It's personal, it's inherently delightful, it's an act of caring for others. It's also a craft that one can improve at over time. Just buying the "best" pie would defeat the point. Not sure author realises the iron…
He still cannot replicate her pies.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the better metaphor is: Imagine you make a chair over the weekend. You already have many chairs. Chairs are readily and cheaply available. Your design is likely derivative of many other chairs. Being told any of these things by a friend you show the chair to is entirely pointless and maybe even mean. The only angle that has some level of social acceptability is an angle like "check out this chair that's like…
I'd say software is more like a pie recipe or a song than like a pie or a chair.
edited to make the point clearer
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "Wait, how is this different from every other peach pie recipe that's ever been written? It seems really similar to another recipe I have." > That's not an unreasonable answer. Pies are not supposed to be unique. Recipes are freely traded. That "friend" is an a-hole.
But the OP isn't talking about pies, really. It seems like the main difference of opinion in this thread comes down to one's default assumptions about whether you expect your friends to give you honest feedback or just smile to save your feelings. Maybe this is a generational or cultural difference, but I think if you can't get honest feedback from your friends you'll never get it at all.
As others have mentioned, a pie is consumable, and thus a good one has value even if it isn't original. But a slight change to the original scenario makes asking about originality much more reasonable: Imagine you write a peach pie recipe over the weekend, and you give a copy of the recipe to your friend. They respond: "Wait, how is this different from every other peach pie recipe that's ever been written? It seems r…
I wouldn't create a new office suite for the joy of creation then offer it along side ms word or google docs. I might make one then put it in a portfolio as a showcase of skill or do it to learn some skill. But having two word processors is useless in a way that having 2 of a consumable good is not.