I think the final point illustrates this one pretty succinctly: 'what will be left will no longer give us the joy of hacking.' Personally I build my own version of almost every software tool for which I regularly (like, daily) use a UI. So for e.g. personal note-taking, continuous integration, server orchestration, even for an IDE: I could use Apple Notes, CircleCI, Chef, VSCode, but I instead build my own versions of these.
I'm not a masochist; they're often built on top of components, e.g. my IDE uses the Monaco editor. But working on these tools gives me a sense of ownership, and lets me hack them into exactly the thing I want rather than e.g. the thing that Microsoft's (talented! well-paid! numerous!) designers want me to use. Hacking on them brings me joy, and gives me a sense of ownership.
Like an idealised traditional carpenter, I make (within reason) my own tools. Is this the most rational, engineering-minded approach? I mean, obviously not. But it brings me joy -- and it also helps me get shit done.
I'm not a masochist; they're often built on top of components, e.g. my IDE uses the Monaco editor. But working on these tools gives me a sense of ownership, and lets me hack them into exactly the thing I want rather than e.g. the thing that Microsoft's (talented! well-paid! numerous!) designers want me to use. Hacking on them brings me joy, and gives me a sense of ownership.
Like an idealised traditional carpenter, I make (within reason) my own tools. Is this the most rational, engineering-minded approach? I mean, obviously not. But it brings me joy -- and it also helps me get shit done.