Toolmakers’ Manifesto

People want to get things done. Often, a person can get a thing done faster or easier by using a machine. Unfortunately, out of all the kinds of machines in the world, only a few would actually help, and the rest would be a hinderance¹. Therefore, people need to look at what machines are available, and choose one that will be suitable for what they want to get done.

A person who makes machines probably has a good idea what their machines are useful for. They do not, however, know exactly what you want to get done; they don’t even know who you are. Only the (potential) user of a machine knows what they want to get done, so only they know what the requirements are for a machine to actually be helpful.

• No manufacturer should say that “It will make your life better!”; that’s just an empty promise. What you, the toolmaker, can do is educate others about what their machines are good at, and what they’re bad at. Potential users can then make an informed decision. With that empowerment, they will be less likely to walk away feeling cheated, and less likely to convince others to avoid giving you money. Besides, if that user is trying to do something good, you’ll have helped the world instead of hindered it.
• There are people who examine the market, and then help others explore the options. You, like everyone, have probably done this to some extent. You can’t recommend a machine just because it works for you. It’s common for others to have such different needs that the thing that works amazingly for you simply won’t work at all for them. You can’t bash a machine just because it didn’t work for you. It’s common for others to have such different needs that the thing that failed miserably for you works perfectly for them. Not abiding this point is why we get religious wars. Not just literal religious wars, but also figurative ones, like over operating systems.
• Every extra machine a person needs to make your machine work is a constriction on your market. Unless you try to brush that stuff under the rug… which would require misleading your customers, or as I like to callit, lying. Don’t lie to people about your machines.
• Your product taking over the entire marketspace is never compatible with helping the world. Even if you’re happy about and proud of it. As long as there are different sets of needs—and there always will be—there must always be different options.
• Sometimes, groups of people have needs that are quite similar; these people should come together to agree on what works for all of them. That’s a standards body, and they produce standards documents. Follow and respect the standards documents. It’s fine to also have a say in how these documents evolve, but that brings me to…
• If you find your product successful make things harder on yourself if they make things easier for the customer. The calculus is quite easy here: you can save a lot of people a little pain at the cost of a bit more pain to yourself. Success as a toolmaker doesn’t make you a master, it makes you a servant, and that’s a good thing for the world. You have been forewarned, now be prepared.