Craftsmanship Costs

10/06/28

The other day I read about 37Signal's wonderful new app for the iPad and immediately thought, "Just great. Another reason to wish I could get an iPad." Then I come out of the weekend to find Mark Bernstein's post. Of course, I had to go confirm real quick, and a quick scan of the comments was kind of shocking.

My point first, it's extremely frustrating that people feel like they can behave and think this way. The behavior is rude and the thinking damages industry.

If somebody came to my house and complained at the table about the food I served, I would never invite them back. If they asked to visit, I might give considerable thought to saying yes to them. It's not just a matter of hurt pride, it's a matter of sensibilities. If they think I would be coarse enough to serve a guest something that warrants a complaint, there is a fatal difference in our sensibilities. They have no business in my house, as I have no business feeding them. If they come back later, in some different context, and raise the complaint with me, that is another story. The first time I heard about "T.P.O." was in Japan, but it really boils down to the common sense my father taught me. "There is a time and a place for everything."

Those words were often followed with, "Now is not the time or the place." Leaving negative comments about another person's business plan on that person's web page is like barging into their house and complaining about how they are cooking up dinner. It's just absurd and rude.

This kind of thinking has destroyed the animation industry in Japan, as well as the production and consulting industries. When a craftsman asks for a certain price for something he has crafted, why stand there and yell at him that you can buy a similar thing for less somewhere else. This WallMart mentality is lethal and the root of many industry ailments.

The suit I bought right out of college was the "penniless ex-student suit." The suit I bought a few years ago was a good bit more expensive. But they are both suits, right? What am I paying for? Craft and craftsmanship. Designers put their mark of approval on the cloth, it gets made, and people that see the suit know all the design, thought and resources that went behind it, and say, "Nice suit, Mike."

Yes, there are other apps that can maybe do more, and those apps likely cost less. But none of those apps would let me design a user interface with all the simplicity and lack of distraction that Draft likely does. Granted, I have not used the app, so I have no good council about its functionality. But I know by their actions, their products and the authority of others that the people at 37Signals are craftsmen. Why can't craftsmen decide to charge what they think their work is worth?

I'm not particularly good with numbers. So I didn't quite get all of Mark's post (the number parts). But the time savings from being able to throw down a sketch and share it instantly with everybody else in the workflow is certainly worth a quick 10 USD. No capturing, no scanning, no reformatting. Just a smooth, fast, easy design workflow.

And Tinderbox is not expensive. It's very reasonably priced. The longer you stick with it and the community that backs it, you realize the true value of what you bought. The price of Tinderbox is not just the software. The intelligent (and patient) community support you buy into is simply amazing. How much is that worth?

10/06/28