Have you actually done any HFT work? I know that's what most people believe, but the HFT outfits I am familiar with have algorithms that are extremely complex, and while they need to be fast, just being faster than them with a dumb algorithm won't get you anywhere.
FWIW I am an HF Programmer Trader, (Jeff Gomberg's Business Partner / Fellow Programmer actually) In certain cases being dumb and fast will get you very far. For example, with an arbitrage strategy, being able to get the arbitrage faster than someone else will make a lot of money and it is all about speed. It is that simple. The problem is that going that fast is very expensive (depending on the trade), so you have to be smart and decide if you can or can't get the other side of the arb in time, and it spirals on from there. But if you were the fastest being smart is less important and vice versa.
