This is basically the difference between creating art and creating commoditized product. The distinction and the unwillingness to acknowledge the distinction (even though it’s made regardless) creates a lot of friction.
The masses don’t give a damn, and if all you’re trying to do is extract maximum revenue as efficiently as possible, there is no reason to expend the additional resources (and incur the additional risks) of doing more than the necessary minimum.
The artists/craftspeople have a vision and they care. Then the money arrives and none of that matters to the money.
Examples are everywhere. Video game studios discover that they can make a billion with crap story so stop investing resources in story, only the people who care even notice, and there aren’t enough of them to matter: they aren’t the audience anymore. Etc.
More important, even people who _do_ give a damn, don't give a damn about everything. And even the things they do give a damn about, they don't give a damn about every time they "do that thing".
I give a damn about music. I have a collection of about 3,000 LPs, a few hundred 12" singles, and over 5,000 CDs. I love to draw the curtains and sit in my dark lounge room, power up my 80's vintage all analogue hifi, and critically listen to albums on vinyl - no distractions, focusing on the music and performance.
But that's only maybe 1% of my music listening time. I spend a lot more time listening to music with my earbuds in while exercising or grocery shopping, or in the car. I spend way more time streaming music around the house while doing chores or cooking or reading. I have playlists of music without vocals that I listen to while doing work I need to be able to concentrate doing. Hell, I have Apple Music streaming right now while reading (and posting to HN.
I _do_ care about music, but you'd need a decent private investigator to find out, it sure as hell isnt obvious to anyone that's not close to me. And even if you tracked my credit card bills you'd see way more streaming subscription spend than vinyl/cd purchases (which are mostly bought for cash at show merch desks these days).
I find most people are passionate about _something_ in the "care about" sense here. I love it when I meet someone new or who I don't know well, and can get into a conversation about "their thing" - whether it's knitting, or building traditional Inuit canoes, or stage lighting for amateur theatre, or ultra light carbon and titanium bicycles, or building a plane, or sailing the north west passage, or setting a land speed record in some very specific class. All things I'm unlikely to ever even consider wanting to do, but which are fascinating to hear about from someone deeply involved in it.
I think (or at least optimistically hope) that "the masses" do give a damn. About _something_. You just need to steer the conversation around a bit to find out what their thing is, and be curious and enthusiastic enough to get them talking about it. Its a wonderful thing when that happens, even if what you end up talking about is the drama in purchasing hand dyed yarn from that one woman in Germany on knitting forums, or the history and current land speed record in the 50cc streamlined motorcycle with gasoline fuel class, or what the recommended shotgun shells are for protection against polar bear attack.
Ask any Japanese mechanical pencil manufacturer: it is possible commoditize excellence via mastery through refinement and then uniformity by making zillions the same way.
> This is basically the difference between creating art and creating commoditized product
I came to say the same in essence.
The author is using too many generalizations. I think his internal pendulum is swinging from extremes, missing the nuance in reality.
Many people care about quality, and often they are sophisticated buyers and tastemakers. Those people, when they find quality, praise it to whomever will listen. Others, often not as discerning hear the praise and jump aboard due to the hype.
Sure, there are people that can't really tell the difference, but they still have the year's hottest DSLR or whatever, and the experts are often the people that communicate what those are.
I don't think that reality makes for a great blog post, however.
The masses don’t give a damn, and if all you’re trying to do is extract maximum revenue as efficiently as possible, there is no reason to expend the additional resources (and incur the additional risks) of doing more than the necessary minimum.
The artists/craftspeople have a vision and they care. Then the money arrives and none of that matters to the money.
Examples are everywhere. Video game studios discover that they can make a billion with crap story so stop investing resources in story, only the people who care even notice, and there aren’t enough of them to matter: they aren’t the audience anymore. Etc.