🔗 Go Is a Shop-built Jig

Go feels under-engineered because it only solves real problems. If you've ever worked in a wood shop, you've probably made a jig at some point. They're little pieces of wood that help you hold plywood while you cut it, or spacers that tell you where to put the guide bar for a specific tool, or hold-downs that keep a board in place while you're working on it. They're not always pretty. They often solve hyper-specific problems and work only with your specific tools. And when you look at ones that have been used a lot, they sometimes seem a little weird. There might be a random cutout in the middle. Or some little piece that sticks off at an angle. Or the corner might be missing a piece. And when you compare them to "real" tools, "general" tools like you'd buy from a catalog, they're pretty homey or homely depending on how you're thinking about it.

But when you use one of them in your shop, you learn that the random cutout is because you store it against the wall and it would block the light switch otherwise. And if you put your hand on that little extra piece that sticks out, then the board won't fall at the end of the cut. And the corner… well the corner is where you messed up when you were first making it and it's kind of ugly, but it never actually matters when you use it. And that's Go.

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