{"id":47362,"date":"2025-04-09T15:57:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T19:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=47362"},"modified":"2025-04-11T13:53:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T17:53:49","slug":"why-companies-dont-fix-bugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-companies-dont-fix-bugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Companies Don’t Fix Bugs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ibrahim Diallo<\/a> (via Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

A few years ago, a lone programmer named t0st did something extraordinary: he fixed an 8-year-old bug in GTA Online<\/em> that had been driving players crazy. The bug? Painfully long load times, sometimes up to 20 minutes. While the single-player mode loaded in seconds. His solution was elegant: a 13-line code tweak that cut load times by 70%. Rockstar Games, the studio behind GTA<\/em>, rewarded him with a $10,000 bounty and patched the game. Problem solved, right? <\/p>

Not quite. <\/p>

The internet erupted with criticism. How could a billion-dollar company miss something so obvious? Were their developers incompetent? As someone who’s worked in tech, I can tell you the answer isn’t that simple. The real story here isn’t about lazy developers or technical incompetence. It’s about how even the simplest fixes get lost in the labyrinth of corporate priorities.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

I think these kinds of bugs do drive customers away, but did it really happen if you can’t measure it? I wish Tim Cook would not<\/em> think about the “bloody ROI<\/a>” regarding software quality, too. Apple had the back of the cabinet<\/a> mentality as a young company, but now that it has F.U. money it chooses not to care. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Conversely, there are some small companies who will dig into any issue that you report, even though it may turn out to be a bug that doesn’t affect anyone else. (At bigco scale, odds are that it does.) Not only is this great because it directly solves my problem, but I also know that I’m dealing with craftspeople and that if they treat others the same way the product is probably solid in ways I couldn’t imagine.<\/p>\n\n

Tim<\/a>:<\/p>\n

There’s some software from a big company that I have to use for a project (not my choice), and it drives me crazy how buggy it is. The same company is running ads for internet service in my city. Given my experience with the software, there is zero chance I’d ever consider them as my ISP. I know it’s not the same team, but they give off a corporate aura of not caring. Even if I knew for certain that the internet service would be perfect, I can’t in good faith reward them with money for their software apathy.<\/p>

The best companies realize that the best advertising is a quality product, the easiest customers to sell to are their existing customers, and happy customers are their own free advertising team. All the buggy software I see today is causing me to have absolutely no loyalty to any of these companies. It is unbelievably shortsighted for them not to see this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n