I don't interpret Joel as saying 'never do architecture'. I interpret him as saying something more like:
- If your goal is to create great new architecture, that's fine, go for it.
- But if your goal is to ship a product to customers, on a tight schedule – say, you are a startup trying to get an MVP out the door before the end of your runway – then you should probably not be doing more than a fairly minimal amount of architecture, and you should beware of the temptation to do so.
Note that both your examples were created by people employed by large, wealthy organizations (MIT and AT&T respectively) that could afford to give them plenty of time to explore interesting new ideas. That's a great situation to be in, the world would be a better place if we put more people in that situation, and if you are in it, then you should take advantage of it. But if you are unfortunately not in it, then you should be aware of that fact.
- If your goal is to create great new architecture, that's fine, go for it.
- But if your goal is to ship a product to customers, on a tight schedule – say, you are a startup trying to get an MVP out the door before the end of your runway – then you should probably not be doing more than a fairly minimal amount of architecture, and you should beware of the temptation to do so.
Note that both your examples were created by people employed by large, wealthy organizations (MIT and AT&T respectively) that could afford to give them plenty of time to explore interesting new ideas. That's a great situation to be in, the world would be a better place if we put more people in that situation, and if you are in it, then you should take advantage of it. But if you are unfortunately not in it, then you should be aware of that fact.