Re:The Difference Between Programmers and Coders (2013)
by btilly on Tuesday February 18, 2014 @11:06AM
(#7258819)
My point in the linked post was to show for one common technology how no individual person can really understand it. At some point we have to switch from understanding to just using.
That said, there is no company that does deal with each layer in all complexity. Even IBM outsources. But the reason does not have to do with it being too complex as much as too standardized.
The economic theory of the firm says that firms divide when the internal stupidity of a large firm exceeds transaction costs between several. But as an area standardizes, stupidity remains unchanged and transaction costs reduce - meaning that you get more smaller firms. There is an excellent chart that I think I saw in The Innovator's Solution which shows the resulting fragmentation of the semi-conductor industry over the decades.
That said, there is no company that does deal with each layer in all complexity. Even IBM outsources. But the reason does not have to do with it being too complex as much as too standardized.
The economic theory of the firm says that firms divide when the internal stupidity of a large firm exceeds transaction costs between several. But as an area standardizes, stupidity remains unchanged and transaction costs reduce - meaning that you get more smaller firms. There is an excellent chart that I think I saw in The Innovator's Solution which shows the resulting fragmentation of the semi-conductor industry over the decades.