Ask HN: How do you explain tech debt (to non-techs)?

Re:Ask HN: How do you explain tech debt (to non-techs)? by illwrks on Sunday October 24, 2021 @06:48AM (#28976652)

...continuing to cook meal after meal in the same kitchen, but never cleaning up, or washing a pot or pan.

It might be manageable for a day or two but very quickly you will suffer and probably give yourself food poisoning.

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Re:Ask HN: How do you explain tech debt (to non-techs)? by muzani on Sunday October 24, 2021 @10:05AM (#28978002)

At some point, the cooks start stabbing people or become strangely insistent on burning the whole kitchen down.

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Re:Ask HN: How do you explain tech debt (to non-techs)? by marto1 on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @02:39PM (#29004433)

Brilliant analogy!

I speculate confusion about the term originally came from the word “debt”. For a layman it tends to be associated with an extremely narrow definition.

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Re:Ask HN: How do you explain tech debt (to non-techs)? by illwrks on Friday October 29, 2021 @04:01PM (#29042915)

Glad to have helped! I often get asked to explain things by family and friends so I've got a knack for 'dumbing things down'.

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