Abstraction is a problem now? OK… So startups are supposed to spend years understanding the market, then a few more years developing a possible product in assembly (remember, no abstractions), and somehow be successful at that.

We can’t all be funded by the NSA, my friend. Some of us don’t have 1B$ to lean on when developing our first product. Trust me, if I had that kind of money, nothing would be able to hurry me. But the unfortunate truth is that most of us have bills to pay without a war chest and while we spend our time deeply familiarising ourselves with something, that’s costing money, and it has to come from somewhere.

UBI would probably solve this, but until then, the majority cannot understand every layer they use - and most likely even most of us will have more fun making something that works.

Agile in corporate is shit, for damn sure. However just because you understand systems and can peel away abstractions, doesn’t mean you can and will make a great product. One does not forcibly mean the other. It can, but it doesn’t have to.