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great article. thanks for sharing.

As someone more of the startup bend however, I wonder about his pursuit of "perfect but useless" vs "imperfect but potentially useful".

He favors the former, but it seems to me that alot of companies make a big contribution to the world by 'doing the best they can' and pushing the ball slightly further along.

Examples: Google and Search (not 'perfect' but much better) Microsoft and OSes (OS for the masses) Apple and iPhone

etc....

It seems like the risk of pursuing perfection is that you become paralyzed, and the risk of doing something no one finds practical is that it contributes nothing to the world.

Isn't it better to find a slightly more effective solution that everyone finds they need rather than a perfect solution for a problem no one has?



I think his point is that good science strives toward perfection as opposed to being manipulated and twisted to appear relevant.




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