"If the value of software we're writing is so low, it's probably not worth being written"
I think you are missing something big. Lots of software is like infrastructure. It serves a function and needs to exist so that function can be fulfilled. To use a metaphor, a lot of software is like paving roads. To pave a road costs a certain amount of capital. The amount of benefit derived from a cost-benefit analysis may be marginal. But it is a project that needs to be done. Moreover, it needs to be done in large quantities, which requires a lot of people. The solution in such areas is A) not to have the best people working on these projects and B) create formulas so that these things can be done quickly and efficiently -- ultimately automating as much as possible.
Basically, I think there are many tasks in all sectors that are about creativity and a certain genius, and others that are necessary but simply about volume. "Genius" should be expansive enough to recognize the importance of these latter tasks, whether it is building roads, providing glue between different cloud APIs, or dropping seed money into startups.
I think you are missing something big. Lots of software is like infrastructure. It serves a function and needs to exist so that function can be fulfilled. To use a metaphor, a lot of software is like paving roads. To pave a road costs a certain amount of capital. The amount of benefit derived from a cost-benefit analysis may be marginal. But it is a project that needs to be done. Moreover, it needs to be done in large quantities, which requires a lot of people. The solution in such areas is A) not to have the best people working on these projects and B) create formulas so that these things can be done quickly and efficiently -- ultimately automating as much as possible.
Basically, I think there are many tasks in all sectors that are about creativity and a certain genius, and others that are necessary but simply about volume. "Genius" should be expansive enough to recognize the importance of these latter tasks, whether it is building roads, providing glue between different cloud APIs, or dropping seed money into startups.