Finished Dreaming in Code
I finished reading Dreaming in Code today. It’s a decent book, although it’s definitely geared toward the non-programmer. Even then, I did pick up the occasional good quote or reference while reading, and on occasion it was a useful exercise to relate their software development struggles to my own.
My curiosity piqued, I decided to check out the Chandler Project again to see where the team was at and if they were realizing their goal in any way to be groundbreaking. I even checked out the Chandler Hub, but I was disappointed in that it seemed more like a task manager than the desktop version appears to let on. I haven’t downloaded the desktop version yet.
I think the whole Chandler Project is a good lesson in the dangers of software development ambition. They started the project six years ago with a grand vision and true potential, but with every passing day the project falls further behind the innovation curve. Other companies have entered the fray of innovative approaches to Personal Information Management, including the beast of all beasts, Google with iGoogle, GMail, Google Calendar, and so on.
This isn’t to say the Chandler Project is completely doomed – yet. But their days may be numbered. And worst of all, it isn’t because the vision was too grand, but rather because the grand vision’s development wasn’t managed well enough to make it achievable. That’s the lesson to be learned: grand ambitions are great, but they better be managed.
What do I mean? Well, the Chandler Project team spent too much time focusing on the perfect design, and the perfect data structure, and the perfect process instead of focusing on what’s important: the value the product provides to the end user.
If it sounds simple, that’s because it is, if you’re willing to change your mindset. In my mind, the Chandler Project team fell into the trap many great technical beings like to fall into: building the perfect system.
Many times the rationale is that the investment will pay itself off in the long run, and that may be true, but if it takes 7 years to invest in the perfect design then that software system probably needs to last 20+ years to make the investment worth it. What percentage of all software systems designed do you know that have lasted 20+ years?
I am of course being facetious, but there is a broader point here. If we as software developers are interested in changing the world, providing value to customers, making an impact, or whatever-other-mantra-that-gets-your-juices-flowing, then our focus has to be on that mantra. We can’t be focused on creating the perfectly designed system but rather focusing on the capabilities and features that add value and solve problems for our users.
Filed under: Books
