we do it not because it is easy, but because it is hard
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Let the future tell the truth and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine. Indeed.
"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/
Indeed, the history is written by the victor:~
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I was listening to talk radio this morning and the monologue hit a sore point with me. They were talking about the words to songs like "Impossible dream" and "I did it my way". They were talking about making a difference and chasing the impossible dream. This got me to thinking. I realized I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon. I realize that I haven't been able to find any. I haven't found a company like Edison that was willing to fail numerous times for that chance at one success. Willing to take a chance at shooting the moon, because it is too risky. We have no one that would be willing to try to land on the moon today. And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money. Am I wrong here? Are there companies that are willing to take these kind of risks? Maybe I'm just too cynical in my years. -- J Julian
Yes, you're wrong. I work for one. But privacy issues prevent me from naming it publicly.
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I was listening to talk radio this morning and the monologue hit a sore point with me. They were talking about the words to songs like "Impossible dream" and "I did it my way". They were talking about making a difference and chasing the impossible dream. This got me to thinking. I realized I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon. I realize that I haven't been able to find any. I haven't found a company like Edison that was willing to fail numerous times for that chance at one success. Willing to take a chance at shooting the moon, because it is too risky. We have no one that would be willing to try to land on the moon today. And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money. Am I wrong here? Are there companies that are willing to take these kind of risks? Maybe I'm just too cynical in my years. -- J Julian
It is possible to dare, despite the fact that you work for invertebrates. My product emphasizes usability, even though everyone else's response to a 'situation' is "just pop up a dialog". This is for a machine that is printing on paper at 17 feet per second. I persist everything in human-readable XML files, even though everyone else thinks comma-separated values are "good enough". I use C# and WPF. 'Nuff said.
Software Zen:
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I was listening to talk radio this morning and the monologue hit a sore point with me. They were talking about the words to songs like "Impossible dream" and "I did it my way". They were talking about making a difference and chasing the impossible dream. This got me to thinking. I realized I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon. I realize that I haven't been able to find any. I haven't found a company like Edison that was willing to fail numerous times for that chance at one success. Willing to take a chance at shooting the moon, because it is too risky. We have no one that would be willing to try to land on the moon today. And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money. Am I wrong here? Are there companies that are willing to take these kind of risks? Maybe I'm just too cynical in my years. -- J Julian
I have to agree. My career ranged over 40+ years, and the only company where I worked that did anything creative was a mid sized one (approx 500 employees) that was still controlled by the original founder. Neither the lawyers, nor the accountants ran the company. He (the founder) had both lawyers and accountants to tell him HOW to do what he wanted, not tell him why he couldn't do it. He knew his industry inside and out, and had a knack for identifying what products would be needed in a couple of years, not what his competitors had today. In that company, not trying was the sin. Failing was OK, as long as there weren't too many failures. I remember a story about the development of the Boeing 747 where Bill Boeing and Juan Tripp (CEO of Pan-Am) essentially bet their companies on the 747 airplane, and that plane turned out to be one of the most successful planes. Much later, after Boeing had passed away, some executive at Boeing said with some pride, that that could never happen today (too many checks and balances in place). Most likely the only places where you can find the leading edge product development you're seeking is in very small start-ups, where the founders are actively engaged and everyone shares "the vision". My two cents worth.
volee1968
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I was listening to talk radio this morning and the monologue hit a sore point with me. They were talking about the words to songs like "Impossible dream" and "I did it my way". They were talking about making a difference and chasing the impossible dream. This got me to thinking. I realized I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon. I realize that I haven't been able to find any. I haven't found a company like Edison that was willing to fail numerous times for that chance at one success. Willing to take a chance at shooting the moon, because it is too risky. We have no one that would be willing to try to land on the moon today. And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money. Am I wrong here? Are there companies that are willing to take these kind of risks? Maybe I'm just too cynical in my years. -- J Julian
Companies taking such risks are not hiring people who get paid... These ideas start with people who are not working to feed their families. I disagree, I see it all of the time. I was just helping someone (for free) do some web work to help their company take money from dwolla. The setup... He does not have to work, but he is starting a company "in his garage", that some day may make a lot of people good money (and him rich, again)... Keep in mind. It was Edison, who promised Tesla a big bonus if he increased the efficiency of his motors, and then told him ~"No. I was joking. I am not paying you." So, keep in mind, you might get what you are looking for. I have been there, too. So, the ones doing what you describe, are not marketing, and usually don't have a big budget to hire people with great skills. They need some level of VC money to start hiring. Otherwise, go check out some of the incubators that might be in your area.
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"trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks " Now that seems to me like a bit of introspection is in order. The statement to me reads something like this "I am disappointed that there are no companies out there willing to go out on a limb whilst still offering me a risk free salary" To me there seems to be something fundamentally wrong with that statement, I just can't place my finger on it ....
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. ~ Albert Einstein
Right on.
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I was listening to talk radio this morning and the monologue hit a sore point with me. They were talking about the words to songs like "Impossible dream" and "I did it my way". They were talking about making a difference and chasing the impossible dream. This got me to thinking. I realized I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon. I realize that I haven't been able to find any. I haven't found a company like Edison that was willing to fail numerous times for that chance at one success. Willing to take a chance at shooting the moon, because it is too risky. We have no one that would be willing to try to land on the moon today. And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money. Am I wrong here? Are there companies that are willing to take these kind of risks? Maybe I'm just too cynical in my years. -- J Julian
As an academic (in areas of science) I have a very similar experience about research in universities - the people who hold the reins (grant providers) want guaranteed results, so everyone does the easier stuff. Still, things can progress slowly, step by step, in this manner. However, like you I find such approaches largely uninspiring and I wonder whether progress overall is being slowed, since historically leaps and bounds were very important. Money never drives innovation, though it is a necessary ingredient it often holds innovation back.
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I was listening to talk radio this morning and the monologue hit a sore point with me. They were talking about the words to songs like "Impossible dream" and "I did it my way". They were talking about making a difference and chasing the impossible dream. This got me to thinking. I realized I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon. I realize that I haven't been able to find any. I haven't found a company like Edison that was willing to fail numerous times for that chance at one success. Willing to take a chance at shooting the moon, because it is too risky. We have no one that would be willing to try to land on the moon today. And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money. Am I wrong here? Are there companies that are willing to take these kind of risks? Maybe I'm just too cynical in my years. -- J Julian
J Julian wrote:
trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon... there is no companies like this anymore
They exist. They're called startups. Once people start depending on the company for a paycheck, that kind of risky behavior must stop. You're looking for a company trying to invent a new technology.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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I was listening to talk radio this morning and the monologue hit a sore point with me. They were talking about the words to songs like "Impossible dream" and "I did it my way". They were talking about making a difference and chasing the impossible dream. This got me to thinking. I realized I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon. I realize that I haven't been able to find any. I haven't found a company like Edison that was willing to fail numerous times for that chance at one success. Willing to take a chance at shooting the moon, because it is too risky. We have no one that would be willing to try to land on the moon today. And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money. Am I wrong here? Are there companies that are willing to take these kind of risks? Maybe I'm just too cynical in my years. -- J Julian
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I was listening to talk radio this morning and the monologue hit a sore point with me. They were talking about the words to songs like "Impossible dream" and "I did it my way". They were talking about making a difference and chasing the impossible dream. This got me to thinking. I realized I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon. I realize that I haven't been able to find any. I haven't found a company like Edison that was willing to fail numerous times for that chance at one success. Willing to take a chance at shooting the moon, because it is too risky. We have no one that would be willing to try to land on the moon today. And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money. Am I wrong here? Are there companies that are willing to take these kind of risks? Maybe I'm just too cynical in my years. -- J Julian
Your points are well taken. There's the other side to it too - when we say "companies", we shouldn't forget that that means "people". Every company starts with some individual person, or a partnership of persons. Some no doubt are interested in just a bottom line - and that's not such a bad thing itself - but many begin businesses because they have a passion to move an interest forward and see it take on its own life, and are willing to take personal & financial risks to do so. When things fail in a business, those taking the risks must deal with the consequences. Sure, an employee of a company that fails may lose a job, and that's not something to dismiss. But that employee certainly can pursue another job with a different organization. The business owner though - that individual may very well have risked his or her life savings, a house, future retirement security, reasonable health care to establish the capital to create the company. Failure in the company means something entirely different for that individual that took the risk. This shouldn't be dismissed either. If a company is nervous about taking risks and shooting for the moon, understand it comes down to another person, such as yourself, who has to deal at a very different level with the consequences of potential failure. I started a small business a couple of years ago. The experience so far has been fascinating to me, particularly in expanding my own perspective about what it means to accept financial risk in the pursuit of a passion.
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I was listening to talk radio this morning and the monologue hit a sore point with me. They were talking about the words to songs like "Impossible dream" and "I did it my way". They were talking about making a difference and chasing the impossible dream. This got me to thinking. I realized I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon. I realize that I haven't been able to find any. I haven't found a company like Edison that was willing to fail numerous times for that chance at one success. Willing to take a chance at shooting the moon, because it is too risky. We have no one that would be willing to try to land on the moon today. And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money. Am I wrong here? Are there companies that are willing to take these kind of risks? Maybe I'm just too cynical in my years. -- J Julian
J Julian wrote:
And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money.
Boy, you nailed that one on the head. Companies like you describe do exist ... well, at least I know of one: Me. I have always just developed stuff because I thought it would be useful and I enjoy coding. Have several things developed but it just hasn't become about money yet. What's funny is that I've become SME (after many years of working with it) to a product that will eventually be phased out but, in the meantime is paying me pretty well. You might say I hit the "mother lode" with that one but as for products I've developed myself, maybe one will catch fire someday, or not. Still like making them, though. :-) If you want to see one of them: http://www.simplesoftwarebydesign.com
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now there was a genius, mad as a box of frogs, but still a genius
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
Bergholt Stuttley Johnson wrote:
mad as a box of frogs
Interesting, I never thought frogs had the intelligence to go insane or to get angry. They do have enough to sense danger and try to get away from it. (One will NOT sit quietly in a pot of water while you heat it up, instead it gets some urgency in its attempts to leave the pot.) Wow, I'd forgotten how cruel I could be in the name of science when I was a kid. By the way, when they get out of the box, do they retain their insanity?
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whilst I agree that you should put modern morals on historic events you should also not accept propergander as being truth, sending thugs round to beat you up and destroy your business just because you use film equipment not approved by you, was wrong then and still is. He used bully boy tactics in court and when that didnt work he used them in the real world, these were imoral then and imoral now.
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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whilst I agree that you should put modern morals on historic events you should also not accept propergander as being truth, sending thugs round to beat you up and destroy your business just because you use film equipment not approved by you, was wrong then and still is. He used bully boy tactics in court and when that didnt work he used them in the real world, these were imoral then and imoral now.
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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I mean companies that we are in the business of, not a lot of investment bankers hang out on CP :) And to me, a risk is something that can cost you everything, otherwise they are closer to "experiments".
Ron Beyer wrote:
I mean companies that we are in the business of, not a lot of investment bankers hang out on CP
I can't speak for all CPers but I do get paid most of the companies I have worked for for quite some time, didn't have products when I joined them and were not making a profit. So the latter and the former together means that someone has been taking a "risk".
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Ron Beyer wrote:
I mean companies that we are in the business of, not a lot of investment bankers hang out on CP
I can't speak for all CPers but I do get paid most of the companies I have worked for for quite some time, didn't have products when I joined them and were not making a profit. So the latter and the former together means that someone has been taking a "risk".
I must be in the wrong business, I don't know how a company can operate in the red without any products and continue for more than the amount of time it takes the banks to file enough paperwork to shut it down. I worked for a company that was operating in the red, there were months (in a row) we didn't get paid. One day the VP came in and told me not to leave any personal property at work that night, the next day the company assets were going to be seized. Luckily another company came in and bought the company for the outstanding debt the next day and a few months later we all got paid. The company you are speaking of was either just starting out, reorganizing, or it had something that allowed it to continue operating or put enough in the coffers to coast for a while. Payroll can't be taken out of an empty bank account.
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J Julian wrote:
And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line.
Sure there are, but they don't make themselves known because they're usually startups where folks work out of their garage (or their college dorm room) and they're hard to find unless you know the right people. For example, I happen to be working with a few people that are doing some really interesting things, potentially completely revolutionary -- here's one example,[^], sorry, it's "invite only." Another thing is, a lot of great ideas don't need to start with a technology solution -- the technology comes later. I'm talking about social structure changes, like local economies, un-monetized transactions, information organization / management, and so forth. For example, look at what these folks[^] are doing -- technology obviously helps but isn't the core impetus. And in my opinion, that's where the most interesting and revolutionary ideas are. Anyways, I think you're view is inaccurate. Marc
An interesting site Marc, but there's nothing in there, technically, that's revolutionary: that kind of simulated 3d linking to represent semantic relations/correlations has been around, conceptually, a very long time, and, in terms of a full-fledged incarnation, available to mere mortals with home computers, since 1997 when Plumb Design brought out the "Visual Thesaurus" which is still going strong as ThinkMap. Marc Tinkler, the creator, and ThinkMap, won the World Technology Award for Education in 2010: [^]. In the early 1990's, I and a colleague from Adobe visited a developer in Berkely who was prototyping a virtually identical object-graph program for representing complex hierarchies with degrees of semantic relatedness on a PC: it was dog-slow, but he was actually using 3d graphics. However, MetaMaps may indeed be using the concepts in "revolutionary" ways, socially, or otherwise, for all I know. It will be interesting to see what they (and you) come up with. I wish them, and you, best of luck !
“But I don't want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked. “Oh, you can't help that,” said the Cat: “we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.” “How do you know I'm mad?” said Alice. “You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn't have come here.” Lewis Carroll
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I was listening to talk radio this morning and the monologue hit a sore point with me. They were talking about the words to songs like "Impossible dream" and "I did it my way". They were talking about making a difference and chasing the impossible dream. This got me to thinking. I realized I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon. I realize that I haven't been able to find any. I haven't found a company like Edison that was willing to fail numerous times for that chance at one success. Willing to take a chance at shooting the moon, because it is too risky. We have no one that would be willing to try to land on the moon today. And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money. Am I wrong here? Are there companies that are willing to take these kind of risks? Maybe I'm just too cynical in my years. -- J Julian
I feel sure there are more companies like you are searching for than ever before. The thing is, companies like that are invariably young, small companies - companies that are just starting out with the dreams and aspirations that you seek. They don't all succeed at all, but those that do often eventually turn into those companies that you dislike, that only want to make more money. The answer is to go and be that company that you seek. Do it yourself, you clearly have the desire. Bill P.
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now there was a genius, mad as a box of frogs, but still a genius
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
Bergholt Stuttley Johnson wrote:
mad as a box of frogs
Heh? Just because he invented a cheap and safe(r) way to transport electricity than Edison's extremely expensive & dangerous method? I.e. AC current instead of Editon's DC requiring the "commutator" (basically what we now refer to as an inverter)? Or because he used fluorescent bulbs instead of incandescent (much more efficient & longer lasting)? Or perhaps because he thought up ways to produce all the different wavelengths of light - making things like medical x-rays possible? Or because he invented radio, wireless message transmission, etc. even before Marconi thought of sending a message without using wires? Or because he used radio to control a boat's electric motor and actuators for the steering (note the only thing he didn't invent in that sentence was the boat - even starting a whole new concept: robotics)? Or because he even had the audacity to invent a means to produce coherent light - Lasers? Or was it perhaps that he envisioned cheap limitless energy from the very bonds of matter - fission / fusion anyone? So not that "mad" after-all ... just so far ahead of the rest of his peers that they assumed he styled himself some sort of wizard in comparison to them. But this is truly the shape of things: Edison was BLAND in comparison to Tesla. Tesla was reaching for the moon, Edison hardly ventured out his door.
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I was listening to talk radio this morning and the monologue hit a sore point with me. They were talking about the words to songs like "Impossible dream" and "I did it my way". They were talking about making a difference and chasing the impossible dream. This got me to thinking. I realized I've spent the last 25 or so years trying to find a company to work for that was willing to take risks and shoot for the moon. I realize that I haven't been able to find any. I haven't found a company like Edison that was willing to fail numerous times for that chance at one success. Willing to take a chance at shooting the moon, because it is too risky. We have no one that would be willing to try to land on the moon today. And I realized that the reason there is no companies like this anymore, is that they only worry about the bottom line. They no longer care to challenge or make a real difference. Only make more money. Am I wrong here? Are there companies that are willing to take these kind of risks? Maybe I'm just too cynical in my years. -- J Julian
Yes, I'm with you on this. In the software industry there's nothing "new" for decades now. Always same-old-same-old dressed up in new clothes (at best). There's another issue here ... most of what we do now was "invented" prior to the 70s, new things are hard to even think about. I'd give my left armpit to be the next John McCarthy! (Note not anything mundane like Gates/jobs) But I realise it's extremely difficult to think of a new WAY to instruct a computer to do what you want, much more difficult than inventing your own brand of syntax/semantics to do exactly the same thing as Fortran did ... only "different". Partly the reason I like the job I have now ... Construction Architecture ... at least here the chance of doing some new design no-one's ever done before is greater than 0 (if you can find the right client).