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Comment by mcotton | Hacker News Reader

There is something to be said for writing code you can be proud of. I'm always working on finishing projects faster and not introduce bugs in the name of speed.

I can't see a furniture craftsman recommend that you just buy a chair at IKEA.

This philosophy leads to becoming the IKEA of software.

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>This philosophy leads to becoming the IKEA of software.

As in the most succesful?

IKEA is a furniture vendor, not a furniture retailer, furniture consultant, or furniture user. If you are choosing whether to build a business application on top of Microsoft's BizTalk, you are not choosing whether to be Microsoft!

Perhaps, and for those who wish to produce the next Windows ME, this is good enough.

But IKEA succeeds because they meet a very broad set of needs very shallowly. The IKEA book shelf will not necessarily be one you can hand down to your children, but it's pretty guaranteed to go well with your Target couch and Walmart dresser.

I'm not interested in competing with the mass producers on their terms.

If that is what you are going for, then yes. There is nothing wrong with that strategy. I haven't found anything remarkable at IKEA (except for price).

One remarkable attribute of IKEA is its epic success. In fact, its owner is arguably the richest man in the world [1].

  [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingvar_Kamprad#Net_worth

I have. My office leather chair was bought in IKEA more than ten years ago. It was cheaper than alternatives, I bought the alternative because I wanted something good that last. It lasted 6 months of use, I had used a lot of chairs in my life,and all broke fast(I'm tall, maybe that's it) I think my IKEA is way way better in terms of quality, not only price.

I have lived in places with old mahogany furniture(from Congo), strong, beautiful, heavy wood, I prefer IKEA furniture for living, I don't need to care if I broke it, is lightweight, and I don't feel bad about the environment.

Having someone do something using his own hands doesn't mean is better, in fact, it uses to be worse, compare a Toyota manufactured with robots to a handmade car and tell me.

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