Paying for professional tools

Every maker has their own digital tools. A chef brings his knifes. A hairdresser his scissor and dryer.

A digital craftworker brings his own tools. Or at least, should.

Bring your own device became a thing, around 10 years ago, when (corporate) users started demanding the same quality user experience for their ‘business’ devices, as they got from their ‘consumer’ devices.

Some companies still give company-issued laptops, phones and iPads. And strictly limit users in what they are allowed to install.

But serious ‘creative’ companies have let go of those policies. In favour of trusting their people. Allowing them the choice of operating system, photo editor, code editor, and more niche tools. To get the job done.

This has given way to a new software category, marketed directly to ‘creators’, instead of traditional companies.

Prosumers.

Some tools are generally and freely available. For example, a lot of developers use VSCode. Free, highly extendible, flexible. But many opt for more specialised code editors like PyCharm or Nova.

Employers might ultimately re-imburse these creators for the license of these tools, but the tools themselves are marketed directly to creators. They are chosen by them, like a chef who choses and invests in his knife collection.