Technology
The sub-goals of programmers working on a shared artifact "can be deferred to the degree that they become what is known amongst professional programmers as an 'S.E.P.' - somebody else's problem." This can be considered an aspect of social loafing where, in some instances, while working as a team individuals become less productive because they feel less responsible for the final product.
Unix became popular because when it was developed at Bell Labs where "profits were somebody else's problem," so there was no reason not to share the source code with universities. This means that Bell Labs were not concerned with making Unix a profitable computer operating system and thus in turn making it conveniently accessible to university campuses.
Read more about this topic: Somebody Else's Problem
Famous quotes containing the word technology:
“Technology is not an image of the world but a way of operating on reality. The nihilism of technology lies not only in the fact that it is the most perfect expression of the will to power ... but also in the fact that it lacks meaning.”
—Octavio Paz (b. 1914)
“The real accomplishment of modern science and technology consists in taking ordinary men, informing them narrowly and deeply and then, through appropriate organization, arranging to have their knowledge combined with that of other specialized but equally ordinary men. This dispenses with the need for genius. The resulting performance, though less inspiring, is far more predictable.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)