It is like not seeing the potential in Dropbox.

Anyone technically minded used FTP back in the days. So why is there a need for Dropbox (at that time).

That is what makes it hard to invest if you think too much or "know" too much. You get blinkers that prevent you seeing what become obvious successes because of UX improvements for the non-technical crowd.

It’s not like… that’s precisely the scenario being referred to. The problem is that’s always the example, which suggests that the dropbox event is likely closer to the exception than the rule. And it’s existence is used to deflect all criticisms, which is generally an indefensibly dumb strategy.

Knowing the subject well may put blinders in some situations… but what’s the alternative? Know the subject poorly, flail about wildly and hope you land something by pure chance? Obviously knowledge isn’t the problem here; you need it to qualify if it’s a good decision or not. It’s the over-specialization, combined with the lack of empathy for the average user that derived the dropbox event.

time to run a statistical analysis on "I can build it easily myself" comments!

AKA, "Yes, they laughed at Columbus, but they also laughed at Bozo the clown."