Jochen, I suspect there are a few problems with the rockstar scenario, but the biggest two are the collaborative nature of most high end programming for consumer products, and the lack of explicit branding. Of course, collaboration exists in many other forms of art as well, but as a formality credit is usually given to an individual, in the case of rock groups, usually the singer (or in the case of Apple, Jobs, Microsoft, Gates, etc.). Clearly there are some contexts in which software designers create incredible emotional links with their audience, most noticeably in the context of video games, but also, as Doug recently pointed out in his latest blog installment, through things as simple an elegant OS GUI. The difficulty is getting attribution to a single person. The notable exceptions involve explicit branding, i.e. Sid Meier. I think an argument could be made that there are "rockstar" software development companies, but few individuals. I'm not sure, for example, would IBM have gathered a larger market share if they sold "Ray Ozzie's Lotus Notes 4"?
Eh, just some random thoughts, Eric On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 11:34 AM, "Jochen Fromm" <[email protected]> wrote: > Recently my colleagues and I had a discussion if >developers can be "rockstars". Although developers >have to be very creative, and software development >is really sometimes an art, as Dave West argued >recently, software products themselves have not >the same effect on people as paintings or songs. > >Leo Tolstoy argued in his essay "What Is Art?" >that art must create a specific emotional link >between artist and audience, one that "infects" >the viewer. And Maya Angelou said "People will not >remember what you did, they will not remember what >you said, they will remember how you made them feel." > >In other words, stars are famous because they >arise strong emotions. We enjoy literature, art, >music and movies - even if they are imaginative >experiences - because at some level we don't >distinguish these experiences from real ones. > >In this sense, developers can only become stars >in their own community - among the developers >themselves. The rest of the world will only see >the surface of their products, which will barely >arouse any emotion (except anger and frustration). >Do you agree? > >-J. > > > > >============================================================ >FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > > Eric Charles Professional Student and Assistant Professor of Psychology Penn State University Altoona, PA 16601
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