Subsidizing the Generic: The Heavy Price of ‘Almost’ Software
Scraping the hardened gray lichen from a headstone that has sat undisturbed for 52 years, Jasper F. doesn’t look up as the rain starts. He is using a common putty knife, the kind you buy for $2 at any hardware store, to perform a task that requires surgical precision and chemical patience. The knife is ‘good enough,’ or so his supervisor says when the budget for specialized preservation tools is denied. But the putty knife is stiff. It’s too wide. It lacks the beveled edge needed to slide beneath the moss without scarring the soft limestone. Because he is using a tool that isn’t quite right for the job, Jasper will spend 82 minutes on this single marker. With the proper equipment, he would be finished in 12.
This is not just a story about a cemetery groundskeeper in a town of 4,002 people; it is the universal liturgy of the modern workplace. We are currently obsessed with the ‘Generalist Platform’-the software suites that promise to do everything for everyone. We buy these massive, sprawling tools because they are cost-effective on a spreadsheet. They have a recognizable brand name. They integrate with our email. And yet, every single day, thousands of employees like Sarah-an analyst I spoke with just 32 hours ago-spend the first 72 minutes of their morning engaged in what I call ‘data gymnastics.’
