> Had we (the software industry at large) done better then they wouldn't have the countless examples to learn from and turn them into a habit.
Nonsense. Stuff breaks. Everything. Even stuff made to a very high standard.
> most software can be much more robust and long-lived
It can't. Not because it can't be much more robust. But because most software is simply obsolete after a few years or maybe ten years if you're lucky. Software doesn't live in a static world where nothing changes. Laws changes, accounting practices are modernized, entire industries come and go, and everything is in a constant state of change. Maybe you haven't been around long enough to see it. I have. I've seen perfectly built in-house custom inventory software replaced a few years later by something like SAP because upper management decides the pros of having an integrated logistics system
far outweighs the features of one in-house app. Sorry, but I've been in the business world far too long to fall for the idea that software is ever long-lived. There are some rare cases that it can be. The 40 year old COBOL programs some banks run to process massive amounts of transactions over night. And guess what? As long lived as they are, they are being re-written little by little because it's damn hard to find anyone under 65 who is actually interested in maintaining them. Software does not live in a vacuum.
Oh well, guess I better go into research and find academic investments because all this "make this web app yesterday" crap is getting very old and annoying...
Nonsense. Stuff breaks. Everything. Even stuff made to a very high standard.
> most software can be much more robust and long-lived
It can't. Not because it can't be much more robust. But because most software is simply obsolete after a few years or maybe ten years if you're lucky. Software doesn't live in a static world where nothing changes. Laws changes, accounting practices are modernized, entire industries come and go, and everything is in a constant state of change. Maybe you haven't been around long enough to see it. I have. I've seen perfectly built in-house custom inventory software replaced a few years later by something like SAP because upper management decides the pros of having an integrated logistics system far outweighs the features of one in-house app. Sorry, but I've been in the business world far too long to fall for the idea that software is ever long-lived. There are some rare cases that it can be. The 40 year old COBOL programs some banks run to process massive amounts of transactions over night. And guess what? As long lived as they are, they are being re-written little by little because it's damn hard to find anyone under 65 who is actually interested in maintaining them. Software does not live in a vacuum.