Why does software cost so much?

One of the most popular questions heard from customers in the world of software engineering is "Why does software cost so much?" The answer, after years of exhaustive analysis, appears to be: "Compared to what?"

At Finite Wisdom, our rates have recently gone up as follows:

From $121 to $127 (Senior software engineers)
From $79 to $83 (Junior software engineers)

This represents an escalator of 1% per year since our last rate increase in 2016:

We firmly believe that these rates are both competitive and consistent with the high quality of software that we deliver. Also, more importantly:

“We're cheaper than lawyers.”