Skjeggtroll

The term "Software Crisis" is older than me, and basically boils down to the fact that building software is more difficult and time-consuming than you'd think. There has been a number of proffered solutions for it over the years, LLM-based code generators being only the latest (if perhaps the loudest and most fulsome.) A few of them have helped a little, but in the end the crisis remains because, fundamentally, the problem lies as much, if not more, in deciding the details of what

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Mar 23 at 9:05pmWeb
Show threadSkjeggtrollMar 23

,,, you want the software to do as in making the software do it.

I'm starting to wonder, though, if we're now also facing another, deeper Software Crisis in that not merely is software systems difficult and time-consuming to make, but that -- more and more often -- once made, new software systems do not provide any noticeable, or at least not significant, gains.

More and more software systems are written that either underperforms or are simply replacing older systems

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Show threadSkjeggtrollMar 23

... which provided roughly the same gains, but is being replaced for technical or political reasons. While the new system might be more modern and even slightly better, they're not going to transform anyone's business in the same way that replacing your old car with a new one might give you a smoother rider and better mileage, but you'll still spend the same amount of time commuting.

Now, there's nothing wrong with making replacements for systems that needs to be replaced, but

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Show threadSkjeggtrollMar 23

... the problem is that much of IT industry is built on the notion -- or even myth -- of radical change and new software providing new solutions to problems and increasing productivity and profits.

More and more, we're just not providing that -- but that's what everybody's chasing.

Show threadJörn Franke12h ago
@skjeggtroll IT is the fashion industry and it had made the switch to fast fashion. This is how tech companies make money - same concepts.
Show threadKen Milmore12h ago
@skjeggtroll I have observed before that in some ways we have reached "peak IT". Over the past 60 years or so, computers made huge armies of clerical workers redundant, and allowed a lot of industrial and logistic operations to be automated. But we are now into diminishing returns, so they are resorting to selling us snake oil. IT is still profitable, just not with exponential growth.
Show threadBob Young12h ago
@skjeggtroll
"While the new system might be more modern and even slightly better, they're not going to transform anyone's business in the same way that replacing your old car with a new one might give you a smoother ride and better mileage, but you'll still spend the same amount of time commuting." This is one of the most profound things I've read on any social media in a long time. You're making us think about, "What is the problem that's worth solving? Are we even solving the right problem?" Wow.