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Seth Godin on Tools vs. Craftsmen

November 1, 2005 |

I just read Seth Godin’s post “Tools vs. Craftsmen.” His observation, I think is basically correct.

If you want to write a book, go ahead. You can write it and typeset at home, and get it professionally printed with no problem. And Amazon will sell it, right next store to Stephen King’s latest.

If you want to design a car or create a perfume or access a law library, same deal.

And if you want a blog, you can have the very same tools that the most popular bloggers have… for free.

His argument is that with the availability of professional tools, the first barrier of entry into any field is now gone. I would say that is only partly true. Think about it - access to a CAD program does not mean I know how to design a car; access to a law library doesn’t make me understand any of the text in the library; access to a blogging tool doesn’t make me an a-list blogger. He is right, I can go to Kinko’s and get my book typeset - but that doesn’t make it a good book.
 
I think what has happened is that we now have far higher expectations. not of lay people, but of professionals. We have simply become more sophisticated because we know what kind of tools professionals have at their fingertips. We will  not applaud a crappy special effect, because we know that it can be done better. A book that has a horrid design will not find buyers. But, and that is where I think Seth is wrong, this is about professionals, not about amateurs.
 
And lets face it, access to professional tools is still an issue for most people. Do you have access to a render farm for you next blender movie? Maybe the software is open source, but the hardware is expensive. For those writing books, typesetting was never stopped a masterpiece from getting published. That has always been the work of pros. And a law library at your hands does not make you a lawyer. But we expect more from out lawyer and typesetters and animators - because we know that they now have the better, more sophisticated tools.
 
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