Good products make a philosophically positive difference.
Good products mean, by definition, giving people what they want.
For example: Now you can talk to your grandparents, who are a hundred miles away, IN REAL TIME! Now you can see a picture to help you relive the moment with your niece was born. And so on.
Should you care about giving people what they want?
Well, how about the opposite: should you care about taking away something people already have and enjoy? This is called stealing, interestingly. Steve Jobs is the opposite of a robber.
Which is probably why successful societies reward these opposite-of-a-robbers. As Paul Graham has said, "Let the nerds keep their lunch money, and you rule the world."
In fact, the US takes it up one level further: innovators aren't only rewarded financially; they also receive social capital. That's why, for example, Steve Jobs was able to wake up one day and just "give" Leslie Feist citizenship.
Paul Graham essentially bootstrapped Y Combinator with the social capital he received from his successful writings. Now, of course, it's clear that was an investment not an expenditure. He has more social capital now than before YC!
This is a great system!
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