Why software matters
I believe software, at its purest form is revolutionary. Humans , generally are very prone to doing redundant work. With software, a human can abstract a problem, into a algorithm that can be repeated for an unlimited number of times .
Once a Developer understands the immense value of eliminating redundancy, magical things happen. All menial tasks can be automated, leaving her with the task of writing more efficient algorithms, which contributes to automating even more tasks. This triggers a positive feedback loop that is so powerful, leading to new innovation and thus disrupting incumbents. One can argue, that having this feedback loop as an internal process is in itself, a competitive advantage against more traditional industries.
Here are a few examples
Gmail: the ability for the average user, to write simple “rules” to filter incoming emails, is priceless. People don’t need to spend time organizing their emails. Google’s engineers spend even more time improving the software
Minecraft: the ability for the player to create their own content, free’s Mojang’s developers from having to create content. Instead, they can focus on building a better game.
Youtube: the ability for the user to simply upload a video captured from the smartphone, directly to Youtube. In the old days, she would have to save it on mobile, send it to herself via an email, download and upload to Youtube, via its web interface. With this innovation, Youtube’s engineers empowered the user to create and distribute without friction. I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of videos on Youtube have been uploaded from smartphones.
This blog post could have easily been titled “empowering the user via eliminating redundancy”. But since Software is the genesis for eliminating redundancy, the title is fitting.
Design
