Contempt is the enemy of the great

No one can do good work for people they hold in contempt. Respect for one's audience, constituency, customers, or whomever one is serving is an absolute requirement if one is to achieve excellence.

This is why "next year will be the year of Linux on the desktop" has degenerated into a bad joke over the last twenty years. This is why open-source software is not, and cannot be, successful. The proponents of those movements consciously or unconsciously regard the vastly larger population of non-techies as ignoramus troglodytes for not sharing their priorities and interests. As a result, "usability" is a coat of paint slapped on at the end, not an overriding requirement guiding the entire development process; programmers actively reject the input or even presence of designers.

This is why Microsoft earned a well-deserved reputation for mediocrity, for selling software that was "just good enough"—never mind how many metaphorical gashes users got from its raw edges. To a degree they appear to be learning the lesson; their more recent products, released or announced, seem to pay more attention to the idea that respect is necessary to attract and keep customers.

This is why Apple is wildly successful, and why nearly every competitor (including open-source banner-wavers) seems bewildered or enraged by that success. Those competitors do not understand this basic principle of respect, and generally refuse to accept it even when their faces are shoved into it. Conversely, Apple's entire business model revolves around it; the job of the programmer or engineer is to collaborate with the designer to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Of course, this principle is true not only in the electronics and computer industries but across most fields of human endeavor; it simply is more glaringly visible there than elsewhere. Big studios pump out insultingly shallow, formulaic movies; Pixar has an enviable track record of intelligent, well-crafted stories resulting in blockbuster revenues. My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic has spawned an astonishingly large and vital adult fandom because, thanks to sharp writing and painstaking animation, it is of better quality than a goodly share of prime-time television, let alone children's programming—most especially the astoundingly poorly-served young-girls demographic. Consider any profession, any art or craft: the word "respect" comes into it sooner or later.

If you find yourself curling your lip at someone whom you hope to win over, be it a customer, a voter, a fan, whomever, stop and think about what you're doing—and why and how you're doing it.