What’s more important today? Owning a smartphone or owning a car?
In essays 6-10, a lot of what Venkatesh Rao writes seems to be focused on entrepreneurs relationship with software and how it has impacted their lives and in turn, the rest of the world.
Several things right off the bat:
Software has a Very Low Cost
To get high-value out of software, unlike many other professions, you have hardly any capital you must put in. A small investment can yield a huge return. Instead, labor is what dictates your return.
Trivial Often Turns Into revolutionary
Ideas or things that seem to be almost a waste of time, for instance, apps as games, often have a huge effect on large amounts of people, yet games, for the most part, are considered trivial. Or things that people thought no one cared about all of a sudden turn into overnight sensations. Sometimes you have to learn to tinker a little bit with the trivial stuff so that you can grow for the important bits.
Chaos
In the world of software, the more the chaos, the more there is to be learned. If you are more agile, the potential in software is almost boundless. Get used to the chaos.
Doing Things Even When They’re Not Quite Ready
Sometimes software plays to the future of the game instead of the game now, Rao gives an example of this:
“The original design of the Mosaic browser, for instance, reflected the optimistic assumption that everybody would have high-bandwidth access to the Internet in the future, a statement that was not true at the time but is now largely true in the developed world. “
It takes great intellect, trust, and patience for the future to create things like this. Most people have a heart attack if the package they ordered on Amazon doesn’t come in two days, could you imagine these same people in charge of software innovations?
My last three thoughts all came from the 10th essay. First a quote:
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
Whenever you are on the cutting edge of new technology or a new idea, you are going to have people trying to keep you from pursuing this endeavor. They would be much happier if you stayed and did nothing with them. They will passive-aggressively oppose the changes that are happening, but just like the seasons, while change is wildly unpredictable, there’s one consistent thing about it, there will always be seasons.
Eventually, things are going to change. No question. You can either go with the change and get used to it right away and probably be called stupid, or you can refuse to accept change until it smacks you in the face and forces you to change.
Cars are the New Accessory
He also talked about the shift in phones and cars in the last twenty years. Cars used to be the necessary things. Everyone had a car to get to and from work. When cellphones were introduced, cellphones were just a luxury, then they became an accessory.
Now, however, many years later, the roles of the two have changed in many ways. It seems now that phones are more important, and cars are just accessories. Especially in bigger cities, if you have a phone, you have several ridesharing services that you can contact to get a ride.
Owning a car isn’t necessary anymore, and for anyone who has already experienced owning a smartphone, to most of them, their smartphone does seem like a necessity. Think about that. People see a metal brick as more important than a vehicle for transportation. What an incredible leap in software innovation we have had in the last 20 years.
“Create more value than you capture” ~ Tim O’Reilly
Once again, Praxis is a huge advocate in helping people do this.
When leaving this world, will you have added more value than you have taken away? If your answer is “no” or “I don’t know,” it might be time to check into your priorities and reorder them in a fashion that will allow you to start creating serious value.