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Why Developers Are Important To the Drone Industry (sdtimes.com)
dmleonard618 writes: There is a new market that industry leaders think developers should take advantage of: Drones. While drones are becoming more and more popular, the industry is just opening up and it needs developers to take it to the next level. "Drones are the next mobile," said Thomas Haun, a VP from PrecisionHawk. Haun went on to explain that like mobile, drones are going to completely change how we go about our lives. And if that doesn't attract developers, COO from Skyward added: "How often do you get to invent a new industry?"
No they're not. I've never had a smartphone crash on my head, break through my window or spy on me from above. And the air space is regulated in most countries, so drones aren't anywhere near the next mobile.
Drones have their place, but not in the hands of everyone.
Drones are by no means the next cellphone. I know that you have to come up with a new gadget, trinket or toy every other year so people buy some new crap once the former market is saturated, but the very LAST thing this world needs is a bunch of morons who think they can program writing stuff for tools that can literally hit you over the head if handled improperly!
Find another toy to make it the Next Best Thing, ok?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I like the concept of drones.
I write software. Daily. I've worked with a lot of software writers. I've worked with a lot of good ones, and even more bad ones. The concept of "more people writing drone software" scares the living hell out of me.
We have "the brightest minds" working on automotive software and seem to have problems getting that right and now we want these same people (Read: My comment is sarcastic. Automotive software is shameful. Or, rather, its design is.) writing drone software? No, thanks.
I am ALL FOR open design. I am all for people being able to write what they want. But I am not all for mass production of flying objects with crappy code. And the worst part is, I can see it now: "New, in 2016, DRONE-X runs JAVA! Calling all JAVA Devs!" and then, "New, 3rd QT of 2016: DRONE-XX3 runs Windows 10D (drone)! Calling all MS metro devs!"
Please, be smart about this and do not ruin it like everything else is being ruined, software wise. Be mindful and be smart. Leave hardware and software design to the pros, not the children out of HS who took half a semester of "Intro to JAVA" and must be a super-star!
On a side note, this is a great opportunity for senior programmers to teach the new kids (Stay off my lawn!) how to properly code and how to be mindful of security practices. But keep their code out of the sky. And off our roads. For now.