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The myth of perfection

Thursday, June 25, 2009 by Dave Winer.

Myth: Twitter is perfect. If you change even one thing its magic disappears.  

Apple products are often thought to be perfect. Steve Jobs had a lot of people convinced that video had no place on the iPod, until he revealed the iPod with video. All of a sudden it was the Number One most sought-after feature. 

The myth of perfection is mostly skillful marketing. 

The reality: We Make Shitty Software. 

Software is a process. It's never done. "Our software is shitty," the honest hard-working developer says. "But watch, we'll make it less shitty." You're buying a process not perfection. 

This has practical applications. In the last Rebooting The News podcast, toward the end, the subject of changing Twitter came up. When I was able to convince Jay that Twitter could be changed, he said his #1 most desired feature was to be able to edit a tweet.  

Twitter will get more features. Bugs will be fixed. You can be sure of that. 

One of the most obvious features it will get, and I'd bet really soon, are groups, which are similar to features already implemented by some of the clients.  

What's your number one most desired feature? 

PS: This discussion is a continuation to the the piece I wrote earlier this week about the 140-character limit.