Yeah.
I know.
But that's pretty well-understood. I don't think anyone ever thought that. No one really thinks, "Good tools==success". And so we are again faced with the typical 37signals blog entry, the shtick of which is to state humdrum truisms to a galley of fawning fanboys, who litter the comment section with love unlimited. But, as usual, they somehow still manage to deviate from more strongly stated opinions,
What do hackers want? Like all craftsmen, hackers like good tools. In fact, that's an understatement. Good hackers find it unbearable to use bad tools. They'll simply refuse to work on projects with the wrong infrastructure.
True, yes? All craftsmen demand the best tools, and there's no harm in having them, or refining them, or arguing over their merits.
What's more, she's outlasted everyone in the group and is now in charge of the entire application!
Edit: If you downmod me, please explain why. I've played guitar for many years and know what I said is a fact.
Not that there's any contradiction here. It is true that your skill transcends any particular tool, but it is also true that skilled people often become quite picky about tools. I doubt that Eddie Van Halen owns only one guitar.
The mistake is not caring about the tools, or taking trouble to find - or build - the tool that suits you. The mistake is attributing too much power to the tool and not enough to the user.
I think this also extends to software tools.
She had photos hanging in galleries and cafes taken with a disposable camera.
My reaction (which I suppressed at the the time, since I was rehearsing my talk yet again) was that not everyone is out to get you when they ask about this. Not everyone expects to be able to do what you do just by picking up the same tools. Many people may just be asking out of interest, looking for alternatives to the applications they currently use, trying to improve processes.
Personally, I'm happy to evangelize the tools I use. I think they improve my productivity, and in general the more people using something, the better the community around and support for it.
A good camera, guitar, text editor, IDE, sports car, etc won't make someone with little skill better, but it will let someone who is excellent at what they do express themselves without fighting it.
The point of this article is only valid in a fantasy world where one doesn't look too hard at the details.
You'd think as geeks we'd understand better the importance of killer-apps/killer-features and technical innovations for the world of the creative.
Dead on.
