

The Minimum Viable Tree House - dowskitest
http://shoptalkapp.com/blog/2009/11/11/the-minimum-viable-tree-house

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nzmsv
And the next step after the Minimum Viable Treehouse is Treehouse 2.0. With
skylights and a railing, but attached to the original structure made from two
pallets. With duct tape.

Of course, in the real world the ugliness would be so overwhelming that such a
beast would never be built. Too bad the same does not hold true for software
:)

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jfoutz
My treehouse was a 4x4 sheet of plywood with 2 2' 2x4's cut for bracing
stuck/nailed in the crotch of a tree.

no roof, no walls, no rails. random rope to help climb the tree to get on the
platform... I guess it wasn't so much a house as a place to play up high.

I knew some guys with 2 tree houses in different trees, way way to high,
connected via ropes. The guys were almost done with highschool, and didn't use
them. If we'd been about the same size/age, would have been a blast. As it
was, i got to climb up and across a dozen times or so.

~~~
rbanffy
"The guys were almost done with highschool"

How many of them became engineers?

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dbz
Am I the only one who is in awe of that tree house? It is totally epic! I
would love to have a tree house like that one.

I agree they are indeed too young at the moment to appreciate the tree house,
but when they are older they will most certainly appreciate the fact that it
is HUGE and their parents build it; furthermore, it will be a totally cool
place to hang out in.

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chris100
Good metaphor for out-of-control software development. I especially like the
conclusion that the end-user actually does not like the fancy features (the
large size).

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bmcleod
The minimum viable tree house is a tree with a plank nailed somewhere you can
climb to.

As a kid the most valuable addition to my tree house after the initial plank
was a pulley so that I could get more boards up there myself.

Developing a piece at a time is much more fun.

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sdkfisljdsd
Minimum viable x is a great lesson in engineering. Always start small and
slowly build from there while keeping it working.

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diN0bot
the kids might be more invested in it had they been more a part of the design
and construction. granted, 3 and 5 are a bit young. ideally, you put together
a totally scrappy, safe tree house when they're 3 and then when they're 10 and
12 you build the current version together.

~~~
mhb
Sure. But have you ever tried to build something with a 5 year old? Safe is
not generally scrappy nor fast.

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oiubhn
Has he never seen a certain cartoon involving a tree and a swing?

