Programming is a form of technology making. We may be programming in our different teams, companies, organisations and countries, but the stuff we make makes a

Programming is a form of technology making. We may be programming in our different teams, companies, organisations and countries, but the stuff we make makes an impact and affects the world around us. This impact is an input into future similar projects and, given time, the technologies that results from wherever will be better for it. Please note that this idea does not mean that any group now is going to make these technologies, but what we do now will influence the future. The same pattern has been observed in the industrial revolution - many tinkerers, manufacturers and inventors were all sort of learning from each other, all improving. This happened over decades. The main difference with programming is the time dimension. We've only really been doing it at a cultural level for the last twenty years - we're only just getting started in discussing and sharing what we are doing.