In 2011, Robin Sloan wrote “Blessed Are the Toolmakers.” It’s a (light) rejection of the urge to make general-purpose software and platforms in favor of something smaller yet more productive.

“I wish more people were making tools for a specific creative purpose rather than for general consumer adoption. I wish more people were making tools that very intentionally do not scale—tools with users by the dozen. Tools you experience not through a web signup form, but through pathbreaking creative work.

“I guess I want fewer aspirational Apples and more Pixar wannabes.”