“They equate the software they built with the entirety of their product.”
The irony is that customers often exhibit the same way of thinking: “If only I had the perfect to-do list app I would be much more productive.” - they equate the solution to their problem with some product.
Also certain of the more recondite aspects of number theory that deal with prime numbers: completely useless right up until RSA was invented; now we use them to protect every webpage we view, every email we send, and every financial transaction we make.
You don't save time by listening to only one side and forming an unbalanced opinion. One reason i like HN so much, is that you can read a debate and get both sides of the coin.
I have a wife and two kids, we rent an expensive house on the countryside. I struggle to find enough work even though I have a university degree and I taught myself programming (R). I feel totally constrained every day. I guess that is living by other peoples rules.
So my own rules (which I am working towards) would mainly be decreasing our minimal monthly expenses. This is hard in a country where the norm is to earn a lot, spend even more, pay the highest taxes in the world and where the government wants to make everything even more homogeneous.
The irony is that customers often exhibit the same way of thinking: “If only I had the perfect to-do list app I would be much more productive.” - they equate the solution to their problem with some product.