Losing and regaining the passion...
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I have a question for the old timers. The youngins won't understand this unless they've lived a pass life they recall. Anyway, y'all ever get jaded with the technology industry? Just sick and tired of it all? The buzz words. The fact 99% of the industry is BS. PHBs. The acronyms for that matter. The fact that we've all probably lost hair due to our work. Not so much the actual tech, but the relatively young industry that grew up around it. And yet, we do this because we're creators. Programmers are some of the few I've seen will to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Sometimes out of fear of being fired from poor management but sometimes it's out of passion and love for the work of creating. You don't really see that type of passion in most industries. It's so ingrained in tech in fact, I think the industry counts on it. The industry is spoiled by it. And despite this. There really isn't much else we'd rather do. Think about it. We're the future. Technology is taking over the world. Knowing what you're doing with your life, would any old timer rather be a lawyer that doesn't know much about tech? As a whole, we're changing the planet. When I see people like Elon Musk, well that dude is a programmer. He's changing the world. I think it's hard to imagine a life better spent than one helping humanity take the next step. Not every job gets to do that in their tiny way. So has anyone else found themselves jaded for a period while the industry finds itself, yet to only realize that as people we are right where we are meant to be?
Jeremy Falcon
I've been working at a career in tech (at one level or another) for 30+ years and I hear ya brother. I've been at one company the whole time and never played the "contractor for hire" game or "switch jobs every 3-5 years to get ahead" game that many of the folks here at CP seem to do. Maybe I've missed some (most?) of the BS then? But I do grow tired of the PHBs with MBAs and no common sense, the industry buzz words and constant language / model changes with no real gain. I've watched Apple, Novell, Microsoft, Lotus, Borland, FoxPro, Oracle, ad infinitum, etc... ebb and flow / come and go. I've watched the birth of the World Wide Web (mostly all good) and the death of dial-up (mostly all bad). I used to spend nearly every waking moment (much to my wife's displeasure) working on a computer - either at work or at home. My priorities have changed dramatically over the years though. Now I go days or weeks without touching my home PC. I fiddle with an iPad most nights but not seriously doing much of anything. At work I've risen (???) to a mostly management level - I still get my fingers dirty most weeks but it's in machine logic and CNC machining cycles not hardcore / high level coding. I can't say I'm sick of the industry but I'm a bit jaded and I'm slow to get excited about the next great thing until it establishes itself, matures and shows a little staying power.
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. ~ Ronald Reagan
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I have a question for the old timers. The youngins won't understand this unless they've lived a pass life they recall. Anyway, y'all ever get jaded with the technology industry? Just sick and tired of it all? The buzz words. The fact 99% of the industry is BS. PHBs. The acronyms for that matter. The fact that we've all probably lost hair due to our work. Not so much the actual tech, but the relatively young industry that grew up around it. And yet, we do this because we're creators. Programmers are some of the few I've seen will to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Sometimes out of fear of being fired from poor management but sometimes it's out of passion and love for the work of creating. You don't really see that type of passion in most industries. It's so ingrained in tech in fact, I think the industry counts on it. The industry is spoiled by it. And despite this. There really isn't much else we'd rather do. Think about it. We're the future. Technology is taking over the world. Knowing what you're doing with your life, would any old timer rather be a lawyer that doesn't know much about tech? As a whole, we're changing the planet. When I see people like Elon Musk, well that dude is a programmer. He's changing the world. I think it's hard to imagine a life better spent than one helping humanity take the next step. Not every job gets to do that in their tiny way. So has anyone else found themselves jaded for a period while the industry finds itself, yet to only realize that as people we are right where we are meant to be?
Jeremy Falcon
I've been around longer than most (VAX-11, Sun-1). The excitement for me has always been about learning something new. This industry is perfect for people that are mesmerized by shiny new objects (technologies) and have a passion for solving problems with them. What could be more fun and rewarding?
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Jeremy Falcon wrote:
maybe it's 98%
No, its 99% - you were correct. :) The truth is in the facts, and the fact is, the IT world is BS.
Make that the corporate world and I will agree with you.
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
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I have a question for the old timers. The youngins won't understand this unless they've lived a pass life they recall. Anyway, y'all ever get jaded with the technology industry? Just sick and tired of it all? The buzz words. The fact 99% of the industry is BS. PHBs. The acronyms for that matter. The fact that we've all probably lost hair due to our work. Not so much the actual tech, but the relatively young industry that grew up around it. And yet, we do this because we're creators. Programmers are some of the few I've seen will to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Sometimes out of fear of being fired from poor management but sometimes it's out of passion and love for the work of creating. You don't really see that type of passion in most industries. It's so ingrained in tech in fact, I think the industry counts on it. The industry is spoiled by it. And despite this. There really isn't much else we'd rather do. Think about it. We're the future. Technology is taking over the world. Knowing what you're doing with your life, would any old timer rather be a lawyer that doesn't know much about tech? As a whole, we're changing the planet. When I see people like Elon Musk, well that dude is a programmer. He's changing the world. I think it's hard to imagine a life better spent than one helping humanity take the next step. Not every job gets to do that in their tiny way. So has anyone else found themselves jaded for a period while the industry finds itself, yet to only realize that as people we are right where we are meant to be?
Jeremy Falcon
I was sick of it from day 1, but it pays so well. :) IT is no hobby of mine, I keep my hobbies apart from work. Work is work. It pays the bills, well, and I am damn good at it because I always was a good designer, in any medium.
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Yes, I'm kind of at the place right now. I've been doing this for over 30 years and even though the work is awesome at times, the day in day out monotony of trying to figure out code written by someone else is getting to me. That's why I've taken up video creation as a hobby. I think what happens is the we get starved of the creativity part due to poor management and/or long maintenance periods. I'm at that point now. I've created other projects on my own to keep up my knowledge base and for fun, but it's missing the thrill of having someone else use it. I hope that one day soon, I'll get placed on another project and the thrill returns. :-D :thumbsup:
When you are dead, you won't even know that you are dead. It's a pain only felt by others. Same thing when you are stupid.
Quote:
When you are dead, you won't even know that you are dead. It's a pain only felt by others. Same thing when you are stupid.
How can you be so sure? You've never been dead before, have you? You can't be sure you won't know you're dead and you can't be 100% sure you'll be missed! Also, stupid people do feel the pain themselves. They might not realize it's from their stupidity, but they do feel it! I guess I am at least partially jaded with the tech. Instead of coding I'm commenting on peoples' signatures on CP. Yeah, most of the tech world is crap. And I think that at least partially it's crap because it's driven by profit, not by passion. People will come up with all sorts of ideas to present them as new technologies only hoping to get a pile of money out of it. It has nothing, or very little, to do with the desire to help people.
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Make that the corporate world and I will agree with you.
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
:thumbsup:
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I have a question for the old timers. The youngins won't understand this unless they've lived a pass life they recall. Anyway, y'all ever get jaded with the technology industry? Just sick and tired of it all? The buzz words. The fact 99% of the industry is BS. PHBs. The acronyms for that matter. The fact that we've all probably lost hair due to our work. Not so much the actual tech, but the relatively young industry that grew up around it. And yet, we do this because we're creators. Programmers are some of the few I've seen will to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Sometimes out of fear of being fired from poor management but sometimes it's out of passion and love for the work of creating. You don't really see that type of passion in most industries. It's so ingrained in tech in fact, I think the industry counts on it. The industry is spoiled by it. And despite this. There really isn't much else we'd rather do. Think about it. We're the future. Technology is taking over the world. Knowing what you're doing with your life, would any old timer rather be a lawyer that doesn't know much about tech? As a whole, we're changing the planet. When I see people like Elon Musk, well that dude is a programmer. He's changing the world. I think it's hard to imagine a life better spent than one helping humanity take the next step. Not every job gets to do that in their tiny way. So has anyone else found themselves jaded for a period while the industry finds itself, yet to only realize that as people we are right where we are meant to be?
Jeremy Falcon
Oooo, there's so much I could say in answer to that question.... It's something I go over and back on a lot. I started out in life as a pretty happy, simple country boy, working in a tool and die factory near my family home in rural Ireland. Being a contractor, I've had the opportunity to move around a lot, make serious money, see pretty things, etc. But to be honest, there are times when I feel like this job makes me feel old, bitter and jaded. So much of it is politics, drudgery, putting up with terrible work on the part of others, doing battle with boredom, frustration and the physical deterioration that comes with a sedentary job. It goes against a lot of my personal values to tolerate these things, so there is a more or less constant sense of grind. But at the end of the day, I manage my time, I don't take the work home, I get the hell out of work before it's too late, I play my guitars, I run and ski and swim and I keep myself as happy and positive as I can. And at this stage of my life (36) it's likely that I should simply get used to the idea that this is, in fact it. So there's not much point in being angry about it. It is possible, too, to find new things to keep interested in. You can filter out the airbrushed BS trends and find real, pragmatic projects that give value to the world. Learning new things is always fun. Programmers are also generally funny people. So there's that. Don't start quoting Monty Python though, or you'll never finish the conversation. I do wish there were more women in IT in general. It's a bit of a bloke-fest, and a female influence is, I have found, in general a good thing. Depends on the female, of course. So, well, while I guess I don't know that I would say that I'm right where I should be, I'm not totally jaded by the industry. It comes and goes, happiness. 'Tis a fickle fish to catch.
One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know.
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I have a question for the old timers. The youngins won't understand this unless they've lived a pass life they recall. Anyway, y'all ever get jaded with the technology industry? Just sick and tired of it all? The buzz words. The fact 99% of the industry is BS. PHBs. The acronyms for that matter. The fact that we've all probably lost hair due to our work. Not so much the actual tech, but the relatively young industry that grew up around it. And yet, we do this because we're creators. Programmers are some of the few I've seen will to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Sometimes out of fear of being fired from poor management but sometimes it's out of passion and love for the work of creating. You don't really see that type of passion in most industries. It's so ingrained in tech in fact, I think the industry counts on it. The industry is spoiled by it. And despite this. There really isn't much else we'd rather do. Think about it. We're the future. Technology is taking over the world. Knowing what you're doing with your life, would any old timer rather be a lawyer that doesn't know much about tech? As a whole, we're changing the planet. When I see people like Elon Musk, well that dude is a programmer. He's changing the world. I think it's hard to imagine a life better spent than one helping humanity take the next step. Not every job gets to do that in their tiny way. So has anyone else found themselves jaded for a period while the industry finds itself, yet to only realize that as people we are right where we are meant to be?
Jeremy Falcon
I don't know. Really, I don't. At the moment all I can tell you is that it's best not to let all that creep through your defenses and take over your life. It's too short to waste any time arguing with idiots. Just let them go fall flat on their faces as often as they must. There is no law that requires you to join them. Anyway, the way 'our industry' works and the daily insanity can erode any enthusiasm. Getting back on my feet is a matter of getting rid of everything that had gone the wrong way and find myself some new and interesting things to do. In fact, I already had deleted my CP account when this topic caught my eye. Now I have come back undead. :-) Back in Black, so to say.
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Jeremy Falcon wrote:
The fact 99% of the industry is BS.
How so?
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data. There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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RyanDev wrote:
Tech is running the world, so how can it be nothing but BS?
My take on that is that more often than not, tech creates a solution for a problem that didn't exist, except in the mind of some penny pincher or stock holder. Does an automated answering system where you have to go through 5 layers of options improve talking to a live person from the get go? Hell no. Does all the record keeping and analysis that goes on behind the scenes improve your auto insurance coverage? From what I've seen, no, all it does is make insurance more expensive by adding layers of services and bureaucracies that people don't know about, like your policy rates going up if you have a low credit score. Does Facebook and Twitter actually improve the quality of people's lives? Everyone credits the Arab Spring to tech like instant messaging, and look where the Arab Spring is now. Has tech actually improved the quality of care we get from doctors? Maybe, but maybe not, what with, for example, the 6 visit "results based" requirements in mental health services based on filling out computerized forms that in no way capture the real issues. Of course, for every example, there is a counter example. I know a lot more about drug side effects, astronomy, physics, etc., because I can look the things up and get informative answers. But let's not forget that all this tech we're creating is accessible to a small % of the world population that has bigger problems than checking their Facebook wall. Marc
Latest Article - Create a Dockerized Python Fiddle Web App Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny Artificial intelligence is the only remedy for natural stupidity. - CDP1802
Oh the questionnaires and layers of forms.... Flow charts to tell the customer service representative or some algorithm which path to take down the bunny hole to get an appropriate answer. But then technology can also come in and help us with the problems caused by the previous solutions. I am a volunteer firefighter and first responder in my down time. The previous area I worked in implemented a way bloated version of Medical Priority Dispatching and the questions could take a few minutes to get through. The problem is the national standard says the dispatch must be out within a minute of answering a 911 call. The answer that has been implemented is to give a preliminary dispatch of location and type(EMS, Fire; default = Police), and then when the flowchart is completed a second dispatch is made to give more information so that the responders know what they are going to see and need when they get there.
Director of Transmogrification Services Shinobi of Query Language Master of Yoda Conditional
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I have a question for the old timers. The youngins won't understand this unless they've lived a pass life they recall. Anyway, y'all ever get jaded with the technology industry? Just sick and tired of it all? The buzz words. The fact 99% of the industry is BS. PHBs. The acronyms for that matter. The fact that we've all probably lost hair due to our work. Not so much the actual tech, but the relatively young industry that grew up around it. And yet, we do this because we're creators. Programmers are some of the few I've seen will to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Sometimes out of fear of being fired from poor management but sometimes it's out of passion and love for the work of creating. You don't really see that type of passion in most industries. It's so ingrained in tech in fact, I think the industry counts on it. The industry is spoiled by it. And despite this. There really isn't much else we'd rather do. Think about it. We're the future. Technology is taking over the world. Knowing what you're doing with your life, would any old timer rather be a lawyer that doesn't know much about tech? As a whole, we're changing the planet. When I see people like Elon Musk, well that dude is a programmer. He's changing the world. I think it's hard to imagine a life better spent than one helping humanity take the next step. Not every job gets to do that in their tiny way. So has anyone else found themselves jaded for a period while the industry finds itself, yet to only realize that as people we are right where we are meant to be?
Jeremy Falcon
"Computers enable you to waste time that would otherwise be very difficult to waste." -- attributed to Richard Stallman
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I have a question for the old timers. The youngins won't understand this unless they've lived a pass life they recall. Anyway, y'all ever get jaded with the technology industry? Just sick and tired of it all? The buzz words. The fact 99% of the industry is BS. PHBs. The acronyms for that matter. The fact that we've all probably lost hair due to our work. Not so much the actual tech, but the relatively young industry that grew up around it. And yet, we do this because we're creators. Programmers are some of the few I've seen will to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Sometimes out of fear of being fired from poor management but sometimes it's out of passion and love for the work of creating. You don't really see that type of passion in most industries. It's so ingrained in tech in fact, I think the industry counts on it. The industry is spoiled by it. And despite this. There really isn't much else we'd rather do. Think about it. We're the future. Technology is taking over the world. Knowing what you're doing with your life, would any old timer rather be a lawyer that doesn't know much about tech? As a whole, we're changing the planet. When I see people like Elon Musk, well that dude is a programmer. He's changing the world. I think it's hard to imagine a life better spent than one helping humanity take the next step. Not every job gets to do that in their tiny way. So has anyone else found themselves jaded for a period while the industry finds itself, yet to only realize that as people we are right where we are meant to be?
Jeremy Falcon
I don't think it is limited to the tech industry, maybe not even industry in general. A lot of this I believe is a side effect of today's society being lazy, complacent, greedy and used to getting everything it wants right now. If you can't give me what I want for the price I want and give me a result now, I will go get it somewhere else. The results of today primarily being driven by technology though; so I guess technology may be a necessary evil. I just have mixed feelings to it as I see how de-evolving the effects are on people. And if tech can't fix it, I am sure that some legislative body will find a way to fix it and make it even worse. The automobile is a showcase of all of this. We have tech that can determine if you should turn your lights on, and as a result people no longer know how to manually turn them on. I used to do my own oil changes as the seasons changed. Now I take it in when the light comes on (Honda actually says every 12 months if a light does not come on). How many people can use a map and figure out how to get where they are going today?
Director of Transmogrification Services Shinobi of Query Language Master of Yoda Conditional
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If you have to ask, this wasn't written for you. You can pretend you never read it.
Yeah whatever...
jhegedus wrote:
this wasn't written for you.
Apparently not. Clearly my 20 years experience in the industry has been better than a lot of yours. Lucky me, I guess.
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data. There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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I have a question for the old timers. The youngins won't understand this unless they've lived a pass life they recall. Anyway, y'all ever get jaded with the technology industry? Just sick and tired of it all? The buzz words. The fact 99% of the industry is BS. PHBs. The acronyms for that matter. The fact that we've all probably lost hair due to our work. Not so much the actual tech, but the relatively young industry that grew up around it. And yet, we do this because we're creators. Programmers are some of the few I've seen will to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Sometimes out of fear of being fired from poor management but sometimes it's out of passion and love for the work of creating. You don't really see that type of passion in most industries. It's so ingrained in tech in fact, I think the industry counts on it. The industry is spoiled by it. And despite this. There really isn't much else we'd rather do. Think about it. We're the future. Technology is taking over the world. Knowing what you're doing with your life, would any old timer rather be a lawyer that doesn't know much about tech? As a whole, we're changing the planet. When I see people like Elon Musk, well that dude is a programmer. He's changing the world. I think it's hard to imagine a life better spent than one helping humanity take the next step. Not every job gets to do that in their tiny way. So has anyone else found themselves jaded for a period while the industry finds itself, yet to only realize that as people we are right where we are meant to be?
Jeremy Falcon
With 30+ years in this business I guess I qualify as an 'old timer' or just simply 'old'. Here is my take on it Jeremy: * I love my work. * I hate my job! The 'why' to both of these are nested in the corporate structure so many of us work under. I enjoy nothing more than being presented with a set of challenges and being allowed to accomplished them in the most expedient manner I can. Once they have been accomplished I like to hone that solution so that it is as optimized as I possibly can make it. This is what I love about my work. What I hate about my job is that fact that while typical management will declare till they are blue in the face that they not only endorse the position in the paragraph above, but that they also will support it and nurture the 'team' as they like to call us (which typically amounts to a few producers and a some peripheral butt kissers) to accomplished the goals set forth; they are all too eager to do exactly the opposite and will throw every obstacle to progress in the path of the 'team' that they can muster as they chase some illusive corporate fad that they are certain 'IS THE SOLTION'! In the meantime, ignoring the goal that was set, leaving the priority of that goal the same, insisting that 'the team' buys in to their madness not only with a hardy cheer, but to provide documented evidence that they indeed are buying in with their time. ONLY to at some point want to have a progress report on the that 'goal' back there that they now REALLY need completed! That is the BS that I see. So I resign myself to do the best I can with the moronic direction given from above with the limited tools they are willing to provide (despite their claim of being vested in your success). As for the percentage.. think it is more like 99.75% from where I sit.
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I think it's great, while the young ones are stuck in their mobile phone world I prefer getting into the real world - there's still some beautiful sights out there that are far better in real life than on a 4" screen in your hand - and if there's no young jerks out there spoiling it all the better. Sure I still use tech for work, and it helps fill some evenings (seeing as TV has 100% gone to shit except of course when good sports are on) but any chance to leave tech behind for a while is always worth taking. Still haven't turned on my mobile data back on since coming back from a weekend away some while ago. (Coz when I'm roaming, the data isn't invited along - even if it's just across the road for a coffee.)
Sin tack the any key okay
I have a TV-device but no antenna / internet plugged in. I just see a good film with my wife when we have time for it (actually not so often). I don't even have data in my smart phone. I am still using an iPhone 4S (it was my old corporate cell at previous job and I was allowed to take it when leaving). Additional apps reduced to offline Navigator, a better calendar, whatsapp (I don't really like it, but is the only way to keep in touch with many of my friends at my birth place) and a couple of things more... (I have even been target of some jokes like "your phone had to be in museum", "being without data is like living in prehistory" and things like that) I hate too crowded places when doing vacations and I don't understand the people who is just running to reach a place, makes a selfie and then start running again to take the next selfie in other place... Where did the pleasure for a "stroll?" (slow walk, just chilling and having a look around you) go? People is stressed even in spare time... take a deep breath and chill out, man... And I am younger than many would tell reading my rant... I suppose I am "old fashioned" in this topic
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Marc Clifton wrote:
Actually, I do. I know doctors and nurses that are incredibly passionate about their work. I play poker with guys that run their own construction companies, write editorials for news journals, work for drug companies, etc., and they all love their work. I know a lawyer that is passionate about their work in legal representation for women. They are all involved in "creating", whether it's a deck, an informative article, better medicine, better human conditions.
Marc, why are you trying to ruin my points with reason and logic? :-D
Marc Clifton wrote:
Yes, but then again, the industry is always finding itself, and whatever flash in the pan it finds itself in at the moment is often not one that I'm eager to partake in. That was the case when I was in my 20's, and is so in my 50's now as well. Actually, tech has itself made the flash-in-the-pan effect worse.
I went through that same phase. I'm still going through it. Current industry in any field has done more to dehumanize us than anything I can think of. People aren't aware of their instincts or senses anymore. It's like we're turning into machines that barely think under the illusion we think because we are in our heads. Which isn't always really thinking. Not to sound doom and gloom, but something should be done to change this. We're still humans - for now.
Marc Clifton wrote:
I don't know if I would go so far as to say we are right where we are meant to be. Literally where am I sitting right now (cubicle, insurance company) there are people around me that are doing what they are doing for the paycheck and nothing more. It's frustrating to be mostly surrounded by people that have passion only for the paycheck.
But we are man. We're always where we are meant to be. Every choice we've made in life put us exactly where we are. And our choices dictate exactly where we are meant to be. Once that's accepted it's pretty liberating actually. Because we can always choose something else.
Marc Clifton wrote:
Personally, having gone through a soul searching process a few years back
That's part of the wisdom that comes with introspection and aging and seeing and experiencing more of life I believe. Glad you did it man.
Marc Clifton wrote:
- I'm better off if I ignore
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
But we are man. We're always where we are meant to be. Every choice we've made in life put us exactly where we are. And our choices dictate exactly where we are meant to be. Once that's accepted it's pretty liberating actually. Because we can always choose something else.
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I think I need a rocking chair and pipe to answer this one. I've actually gone through and out the other side of the jadedness. Dave and I talk about it often: a new tech or trend or method or design or way of making coffee comes up and you scratch the surface a little and go "oh yeah - that's like that thing they were doing in '98, but with a bigger font". However, the thing this brings me is pure joy when I see something being done now that was impossible when I started. A dancing Optimus Prime rendered via raytracing[^], or even just basic web applications with beautiful, smooth animations, responsive, intuitive, intelligent. And running on my phone. In fact CodeProject is old enough that we still have code in use that was written to get around the limitations we faced, but which needs to be removed because it's actually holding things back. Technology - and most importantly the creative side of technology - has come so far and has enabled development to go from being creative in the mathematical sense (ie the true sense ;)) to creative in the artistic sense. It's this that (to me) is what is bringing in a wider array of talents and ideas. I do feel, however, that we're living at the end of an age. Full AI will be here sooner than we like, and we are totally, hopelessly unprepared. #goshdernit.
cheers Chris Maunder
Chris Maunder wrote:
Full AI will be here sooner than we like, and we are totally, hopelessly unprepared.
I wish so much you were wrong :sigh: :sigh: :sigh: :sigh:
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I have a question for the old timers. The youngins won't understand this unless they've lived a pass life they recall. Anyway, y'all ever get jaded with the technology industry? Just sick and tired of it all? The buzz words. The fact 99% of the industry is BS. PHBs. The acronyms for that matter. The fact that we've all probably lost hair due to our work. Not so much the actual tech, but the relatively young industry that grew up around it. And yet, we do this because we're creators. Programmers are some of the few I've seen will to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Sometimes out of fear of being fired from poor management but sometimes it's out of passion and love for the work of creating. You don't really see that type of passion in most industries. It's so ingrained in tech in fact, I think the industry counts on it. The industry is spoiled by it. And despite this. There really isn't much else we'd rather do. Think about it. We're the future. Technology is taking over the world. Knowing what you're doing with your life, would any old timer rather be a lawyer that doesn't know much about tech? As a whole, we're changing the planet. When I see people like Elon Musk, well that dude is a programmer. He's changing the world. I think it's hard to imagine a life better spent than one helping humanity take the next step. Not every job gets to do that in their tiny way. So has anyone else found themselves jaded for a period while the industry finds itself, yet to only realize that as people we are right where we are meant to be?
Jeremy Falcon
Hmm. I'm not jaded about the work I do: UI's for commercial ink-jet printers. I know I'm sick, but I like doing UI stuff. I don't even mind (too much) the stuff I do as the DSJB(*), admin'ing our source control and build servers, backups, and so on. (*) Departmental Sh!t-Job Boy The thing that has me burnt out though are the politics, the nonsensical re-organizations, and the layoffs every six months for the last five years. At last count I now have the responsibilities previously held by eight separate people. Admittedly some of those weren't full-time, but my workload is easily 4-5 times what it was in the early 2010's. Of course I haven't become all-powerful and 100% efficient since that time, so there's a lot of stuff that simply doesn't get done. Here's an example. Our bug list classifies items as enhancements (it would be nice), cosmetic (wrong color), minor (hey, it might cause a fire), major (it's on fire), and critical (we're on fire). My boss has explicitly instructed me to not work on any item classified minor and below. There's a whole lot of low-hanging fruit there that could improve customer satisfaction that won't get fixed. It's frustrating as hell. I compensate by running long distances (up to 10 miles last Sunday) and riding my bike to work every chance I get. Keeping my brain saturated in endorphins seems to help.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
I have a question for the old timers. The youngins won't understand this unless they've lived a pass life they recall. Anyway, y'all ever get jaded with the technology industry? Just sick and tired of it all? The buzz words. The fact 99% of the industry is BS. PHBs. The acronyms for that matter. The fact that we've all probably lost hair due to our work. Not so much the actual tech, but the relatively young industry that grew up around it. And yet, we do this because we're creators. Programmers are some of the few I've seen will to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Sometimes out of fear of being fired from poor management but sometimes it's out of passion and love for the work of creating. You don't really see that type of passion in most industries. It's so ingrained in tech in fact, I think the industry counts on it. The industry is spoiled by it. And despite this. There really isn't much else we'd rather do. Think about it. We're the future. Technology is taking over the world. Knowing what you're doing with your life, would any old timer rather be a lawyer that doesn't know much about tech? As a whole, we're changing the planet. When I see people like Elon Musk, well that dude is a programmer. He's changing the world. I think it's hard to imagine a life better spent than one helping humanity take the next step. Not every job gets to do that in their tiny way. So has anyone else found themselves jaded for a period while the industry finds itself, yet to only realize that as people we are right where we are meant to be?
Jeremy Falcon
I feel the same way but haven't figured out how to regain the passion. I still love it just don't want to do it any more. If that makes since. Been struggling with that for 2 years now. For a week or two I have a surge where I am really hyped to work on something. Then after that wears off I spend 3 or 4 months dread doing it. The really hard part is programming is the only thing I know. I have been doing it for most of my life and would be lost with out it.
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jhegedus wrote:
this wasn't written for you.
Apparently not. Clearly my 20 years experience in the industry has been better than a lot of yours. Lucky me, I guess.
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data. There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
One example of the BS part, Scrum's daily stand up meeting. It used to be a once a week status meeting and your manager might stop by your desk every day or so just to see how you are doing. Now it's every FRIKKIN' day. ScrumMaster, "Let's go around the room." Developer A, "I'm working on X, no blockers." Developer B, "I'm working on Y, no blockers." Developer C, "I'm working on Z, no blockers." etc. Two week sprints that are really only a week and a half because QA has to be on the same Sprint schedule as the developers and you have to allow time for them to finish testing. Plus the Sprint planning, Sprint Demo, Sprint Retrospective meetings on top of the daily stand up. And don't even get me started on the "Open Office" crap. I want my walls and shelves back, Dagnabit!