Software Features, Pick One
A few months back I saw a tweet that stuck with me. It was from Alton Brown. I’m not a foodie, but for some reason, this one stuck in my head. I think it’s because it resonated in other parts of my life. Mr. Brown said:
You can have your food plentiful, cheap, or good…pick any two.
While I completely agree with this postulate, again, I’m not a huge fan of food. I like eating, I enjoy good, but I can’t tell you the difference between what’s good and bad. I just know what I like and what I don’t like (which isn’t much).
This statement stuck with me because I feel there’s the same trade-off in software. Here’s my quote:
You can build something cheap, fast, good looking, reliable, marketable, trendy, usable or useful… pick one.
What do you think? Not too far off, am I?