The utopian..everybody is free to pursue their passions without the requirements of work. Art, music and science thrive. The starship Enterprise is built, and people explore the galaxy
The not-so-utopian..The very few rich live in paradise, the rest scrape by in a Mad Max / slums of Calcutta world
No, programming ability does not decrease with age. I am approaching 60, writing the best code ever, and getting paid well to do it
Yes, there is extreme age discrimination in hiring. Most companies want young people, right out of college. They don't have health problems or families, and work long hours for low pay
One reason people don't buy new computers as often as they used to is software activation
I dread buying a new computer because moving all of my stuff to the new computer has become a multi-day ordeal of trying to convince Indian call center operators that I am not running the software on more than one computer
If I could buy a new machine, clone my hard drive and go, I would upgrade about three times as often
We hate the guys who seem like they have no idea whatsoever how the product works and just want to sell something..anything..then come back to engineering and tell us to make it work
A great marketer or salesman understands the product and the limitations of the underlying technology
They also understand who the customers might be, and how to find them
As for advice, finding good people is a skill that few technical people have
The really great managers have a near-magical ability to find good people
Good luck on your quest. It will be hard. Many of the people you interview will be well-practiced professional liars
Up until recently, there was one style of computer, the classic desktop box
It had many diverse uses
Some used it as an embedded controller
Some used it for CAD design, video editing, music production, science, etc
Some used it to read email and surf the web
Since there was only one style, lots were sold, so they became very cheap
Now, we see the market segmenting
Many people can have their needs met by a smartphone or a tablet, but not all
Some, like CAD designers, video editors, music producers, scientists etc, still need the big screen, powerful graphics, large hard drive, mouse and keyboard
The bad news for us is that since the masses will probably move to the alternate devices, volume will go down on traditional computers
Slashdot Mirror
ATT is forcing DSL users to switch to Uverse fiber-to-the-box with short copper to the home.
I got a tour of a central office a while ago. Entire floors were empty as the old copper infrastructure was removed
They called it "mining" the old copper
The technicians say that no money is being spent to upgrade the copper infrastructure that remains. It will continue to decay until it fails
Yes, copper will survive into the future, but there will be less of it, and the quality will be worse
on a Burroughs B6700 mainframe, with punch cards, in Algol
We also had a minicomputer. To boot it, you entered the boot code in binary, with toggle switches. After booting, it loaded the OS from paper tape
Approaching 60
I have seen many technologies come and go
I look at something new and ask, can I use it? do I need it?
If so, I learn it or buy it
If not, I ignore it
...Haven't found a need for a smartphone yet
The utopian..everybody is free to pursue their passions without the requirements of work. Art, music and science thrive. The starship Enterprise is built, and people explore the galaxy
The not-so-utopian..The very few rich live in paradise, the rest scrape by in a Mad Max / slums of Calcutta world
No, programming ability does not decrease with age. I am approaching 60, writing the best code ever, and getting paid well to do it
Yes, there is extreme age discrimination in hiring. Most companies want young people, right out of college. They don't have health problems or families, and work long hours for low pay
The old stuff was written by contractors, or employees who left a long time ago
The original development was expensive, behind schedule and painful
Management is terrified of software development as a result of the experience
It won't be upgraded until it becomes an "extinction level" crisis
>>So again, how is Amazon doing it differently? Looks exactly the same to me
Focus groups are artificial, the internet public is real
But, the people who use focus groups believe that focus groups represent reality
This will be a very interesting experiment
Before any law is passed, a simulation should be run to see what the side-effects will be
Obviously, this depends on the existence of accurate simulators, which currently do not exist
After simulation, if the law passes, it enters a trial period, where the actual results are studied
If, at the end of the trial period, the law does not appear to be working as expected, it expires automatically
If it passes the trial, another vote is taken to make it permanent
..but I have always been skeptical of "inflation"
It seemed like a mathematical "band-aid", applied in desperation to a flawed theory
Think of it as a longer-term rental
You have access to it until the provider decides it is no longer profitable to maintain the servers
>>Smartphones and to a lesser extent tablets are fulfilling the needs of the average person
I strongly disagree
I don't have or need a smartphone
I can't imagine a smartphone replacing my desktop computer and 30 inch screen for ANY task
When I use a computer, I want a GOOD computer..with keyboard, mouse and big screen
One reason people don't buy new computers as often as they used to is software activation
I dread buying a new computer because moving all of my stuff to the new computer has become a multi-day ordeal of trying to convince Indian call center operators that I am not running the software on more than one computer
If I could buy a new machine, clone my hard drive and go, I would upgrade about three times as often
I would argue that it's not waste..It's valuable raw material we don't currently use
If a robot could be designed that could distinguish weed from crop, it would eliminate the need for most herbicides and herbicide resistant GMO seeds
Anybody who thinks videoconferencing is good must not have spent much time videoconferencing
I use a big (30" 2560x1600) monitor, a standard keyboard and mouse, and a tower computer box on the floor
When I absolutely must be mobile, I use a laptop
I despise the thing, and try very hard to avoid it
Terminator genes escape and propagate throughout the plant world
We hate the guys who seem like they have no idea whatsoever how the product works and just want to sell something..anything..then come back to engineering and tell us to make it work
A great marketer or salesman understands the product and the limitations of the underlying technology
They also understand who the customers might be, and how to find them
As for advice, finding good people is a skill that few technical people have
The really great managers have a near-magical ability to find good people
Good luck on your quest. It will be hard. Many of the people you interview will be well-practiced professional liars
Written by one guy..in assembly
"must be stored in isolation for tens of thousands of years"
I find this to be extremely silly and wrong
It does not need to be stored for tens of thousands of years
It needs to be stored until technological and political change turn it from a waste into a valuable material for reuse
Not some blog that quotes the article
..and tried to tell them this
Don't put electronics in dashboards, build interfaces and docking stations
Concentrate on things like speakers, that must be designed to fit the space and don't change a lot
Needless to say, I was ignored
All the kids hated and insulted me
So, I made friends with the teachers and school administration
Concentrated totally on academic excellence
Totally ignored the other kids
I used to administer a Lucent PBX
Minutes of voicemail cost thousands of dollars
The storage was already physically present on a hard disk in the box
After paying, they "unlocked" a little more of the disk
Up until recently, there was one style of computer, the classic desktop box
It had many diverse uses
Some used it as an embedded controller
Some used it for CAD design, video editing, music production, science, etc
Some used it to read email and surf the web
Since there was only one style, lots were sold, so they became very cheap
Now, we see the market segmenting
Many people can have their needs met by a smartphone or a tablet, but not all
Some, like CAD designers, video editors, music producers, scientists etc, still need the big screen, powerful graphics, large hard drive, mouse and keyboard
The bad news for us is that since the masses will probably move to the alternate devices, volume will go down on traditional computers
This means prices will rise