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I quit. I had a nearly 20 year career in software, excellent references and well paid. I became completely burned out and hyper-cynical at the pointlessness a

I quit. I had a nearly 20 year career in software, excellent references and well paid. I became completely burned out and hyper-cynical at the pointlessness and shallowness of it all. I can't get excited or even much beyond passing interest in an industry that is almost completely devoted to making the problem of too much stuff far worse. So instead of getting excited at another pointless startup or tech that's "going to disrupt x" (it usually won't, and often it isn't even a sensible idea to), or "change the world" (nope, not that either), I gave it all up to work with my hands doing something. It's nice to actually feel like I am /doing/ something I can feel proud of, and is sustainable. Moving electrons around is just so unfulfilling. I'm utterly jaded at the constant replacement, or latest shiny framework that's going to improve little, just change lots and sell more crap. The web has become an almost unusable mess where a single page loads 30 or 40 domains of ad, crap and tracking bringing us back to dial up speeds unless you block most of it. I still follow tech, but my personal projects are dead as even when i have the time to (I have far more of that now and I feel so much better for it), I can't bring myself to code any more. The money was nice, but I don't even really miss that. I do regret not being able to afford aerobatics as a hobby any more though! Many of my peers have quit tech too, and of those who remain some would like to do something, anything else, but mortgage or other commitments keeps them tied to the money. After three years I'm happier, healthier and don't miss it in the slightest.

farrelle25 11y ago
"I gave it all up to work with my hands doing something." Yes I did this as well. Worked for 15 years as a programmer in financial services. Really found it depressing. Retrained as a care assistant to work in a nursing home. Find the physical work suits me better and enjoy spending time with the residents. Also did a Physics BSc part-time. But mainly my headspace is free now when I come home from work. Still do some side programming though - starting Scheme and SICM at the moment...
mrweasel 11y ago
>The web has become an almost unusable mess where a single page loads 30 or 40 domains of ad, crap and tracking bringing us back to dial up speeds unless you block most of it. I choose my current job because it was a small company, that actually shipped stuff to customer. You give us money, we'll ship you something in the mail. To me that is an honest, simple and satisfying business. Now the company has grown big, we spend most of our time figuring out how to do up-selling, tracking of users, social media bullshit and tries to push useless subscriptions. We still have basic stuff like order tracking and returns that aren't working correctly. Sadly better service always lose out to "more features" for some reason. I think we could save a ton of money by fixing the basics and trimming features not used by most customer. The level of tracking and tracked advertising we do pretty much sickens me to the extend that I want out. I just want to solve people problem, not push them to buy hairdryers and batteries. I don't think I would want to leave the business, but sadly I'm a little to insecure in my own ability to start my own business. Right now, what I really want to do is help small non-IT business getting the services and solutions they need, without ripping them of. It just quickly because terrifying. The prospect of maybe not finding customers, or not being able to solve a issue scare me beyond belief.
abalashov 11y ago
I'm utterly jaded at the constant replacement, or latest shiny framework that's going to improve little, just change lots and sell more crap. I can relate to that feeling intimately. The intellectual content of programming has definitely changed since the simpler times which were, for me, formative. There's a combinatoric explosion of proper nouns, frameworks and libraries, and doing anything seems to entail 95% of time spent pouring over 27 browser tabs of API references. This wasn't what made me love programming when I did systems programming in C as a teenager, and it's a different skill set. I wrote things like highly asynchronous & modular MUDs, chat servers, etc. Sure, one had to consult man pages of system calls once in a while, but fundamentally, it was much more of a closed system with a straightforward standard library and few dependencies. Of course, some of that is because my tinkering wasn't subordinated to economic imperatives or Enterprise Business Rules, but I do think it was qualitatively different in a more objective way, too. Now, it's an overwhelming river of gewgaws that each have their own APIs, conventions, methodologies, life cycle, etc. It doesn't help that a lot of these gewgaws are clearly conceived for the same reasons academic advisors conceive schools of thought and seed conferences with spam publications relating to them by their pet graduate students. Maybe I'm just old, but it seems to me a lot of fashionable frameworks and doodads are more about O'Reilly book royalties, speaking engagements, consulting projects and *Con registration fees.
- anexprogrammer 11y ago
  Similar background here, and complete agreement with you! Started out seriously with the Amiga and it was a delight - the OS was beautifully designed, and there were so many ideas that should have caught on. I'll name just one - datatypes. Work started out with C and Unix, and so long as you had K&R and W Richard Stephens you were good to go. Loved the design of this too until I got to the GUI - X was not fun. Messing around with MUDs was fun, as was knocking up internal chat servers etc. Now programming is gluing modules together with the aid of a web browser, often with little real understanding (no time for that). No need for a real grounding in the math or tech when you can just plug lego bricks together which leads to the mess that's PHP or most of the PHP code I've seen. Design has moved on but it's as much about change for changes sake as improvement. It's now about driving the advertising click stream, or locking us in to the app world, even on our phones rather than improving productivity. I agree that's it's about fashion and selling those certifications, exams and training - yearly (lol) microsoft certified x etc. Can't say I've come across a one of them that indicates in any way that someone is even basically skilled in the tech in question. It's just a continuation of that complexity for complexity's sake.
lolptdr 11y ago
I'm curious; what do you consider of something working with your hands? I came from the opposite background (former chemist, process engineer, chemical engineering) and opposed the minimal work that hardly anyone cared for. With programming, moving electrons makes it a much bigger impact with much ease.
- Ronsenshi 11y ago
  I can sympathize with anexprogrammer and I think by working with your hands he might mean something like woodworking, metalworking, generally working "in the shop" making stuff. I'm not unhappy being a programmer, but from time to time I immensely enjoy fixing things at home myself - I see result of my work here and now. Being a programmer I may not see finished result of my work for a long time. I think it is quite beneficial for programmers to dabble in some hobbies that involve some handiwork - be it knitting or making playing dices out of metal.
  - anexprogrammer 11y ago
    I'm now in conservation and restoration, so a bit of all of those. I considered restoring old vehicles, but didn't want to end up "just" a mechanic. It was working on cars that was my trigger to get out - I felt so much more satisfaction from restoring a car than I ever did from meeting a ship date. I think because it has a tangible sense of progress and completion, and there's something to point at that's more "real"
    - randcraw 11y ago
      There's a (fair) book on this very subject: "Shop Class as Soulcraft" by Matheww Crawford. He earned a PhD in economics and after working briefly in a Washington think tank he quit and opened a shop repairing antique motorcycles. (That was the plan anyway. I think he really makes his living writing.) I can totally relate to the need to have a life outside the virtual world. I've been programming for 30 years (data analysis in R&D mostly), and while I love the intellectual stimulation from writing code to do something new, I also crave physical contact with the world. But it's still not clear to me how best to make that work. Can I do this as part of a job, or must this happen only after hours? I considered working in robotics, since that seemed an ideal mix of the two realms, but I'd rather not feed the military maw, which is where 95% of the work is. Maybe I should just reorg my garage to add room for a workbench and join the ranks of shadetree mechs. Lord knows I have enough machinery that need wrenching...
cauterized 11y ago
What are you doing now?
krsgoss 11y ago
Hi, what did you do for a career change if it's okay to ask?

farrelle25 11y ago

"I gave it all up to work with my hands doing something." Yes I did this as well. Worked for 15 years as a programmer in financial services. Really found it depressing. Retrained as a care assistant to work in a nursing home. Find the physical work suits me better and enjoy spending time with the residents. Also did a Physics BSc part-time. But mainly my headspace is free now when I come home from work. Still do some side programming though - starting Scheme and SICM at the moment...

mrweasel 11y ago

>The web has become an almost unusable mess where a single page loads 30 or 40 domains of ad, crap and tracking bringing us back to dial up speeds unless you block most of it. I choose my current job because it was a small company, that actually shipped stuff to customer. You give us money, we'll ship you something in the mail. To me that is an honest, simple and satisfying business. Now the company has grown big, we spend most of our time figuring out how to do up-selling, tracking of users, social media bullshit and tries to push useless subscriptions. We still have basic stuff like order tracking and returns that aren't working correctly. Sadly better service always lose out to "more features" for some reason. I think we could save a ton of money by fixing the basics and trimming features not used by most customer. The level of tracking and tracked advertising we do pretty much sickens me to the extend that I want out. I just want to solve people problem, not push them to buy hairdryers and batteries. I don't think I would want to leave the business, but sadly I'm a little to insecure in my own ability to start my own business. Right now, what I really want to do is help small non-IT business getting the services and solutions they need, without ripping them of. It just quickly because terrifying. The prospect of maybe not finding customers, or not being able to solve a issue scare me beyond belief.

abalashov 11y ago

I'm utterly jaded at the constant replacement, or latest shiny framework that's going to improve little, just change lots and sell more crap. I can relate to that feeling intimately. The intellectual content of programming has definitely changed since the simpler times which were, for me, formative. There's a combinatoric explosion of proper nouns, frameworks and libraries, and doing anything seems to entail 95% of time spent pouring over 27 browser tabs of API references. This wasn't what made me love programming when I did systems programming in C as a teenager, and it's a different skill set. I wrote things like highly asynchronous & modular MUDs, chat servers, etc. Sure, one had to consult man pages of system calls once in a while, but fundamentally, it was much more of a closed system with a straightforward standard library and few dependencies. Of course, some of that is because my tinkering wasn't subordinated to economic imperatives or Enterprise Business Rules, but I do think it was qualitatively different in a more objective way, too. Now, it's an overwhelming river of gewgaws that each have their own APIs, conventions, methodologies, life cycle, etc. It doesn't help that a lot of these gewgaws are clearly conceived for the same reasons academic advisors conceive schools of thought and seed conferences with spam publications relating to them by their pet graduate students. Maybe I'm just old, but it seems to me a lot of fashionable frameworks and doodads are more about O'Reilly book royalties, speaking engagements, consulting projects and *Con registration fees.

anexprogrammer 11y ago
Similar background here, and complete agreement with you! Started out seriously with the Amiga and it was a delight - the OS was beautifully designed, and there were so many ideas that should have caught on. I'll name just one - datatypes. Work started out with C and Unix, and so long as you had K&R and W Richard Stephens you were good to go. Loved the design of this too until I got to the GUI - X was not fun. Messing around with MUDs was fun, as was knocking up internal chat servers etc. Now programming is gluing modules together with the aid of a web browser, often with little real understanding (no time for that). No need for a real grounding in the math or tech when you can just plug lego bricks together which leads to the mess that's PHP or most of the PHP code I've seen. Design has moved on but it's as much about change for changes sake as improvement. It's now about driving the advertising click stream, or locking us in to the app world, even on our phones rather than improving productivity. I agree that's it's about fashion and selling those certifications, exams and training - yearly (lol) microsoft certified x etc. Can't say I've come across a one of them that indicates in any way that someone is even basically skilled in the tech in question. It's just a continuation of that complexity for complexity's sake.

lolptdr 11y ago

I'm curious; what do you consider of something working with your hands? I came from the opposite background (former chemist, process engineer, chemical engineering) and opposed the minimal work that hardly anyone cared for. With programming, moving electrons makes it a much bigger impact with much ease.

Ronsenshi 11y ago
I can sympathize with anexprogrammer and I think by working with your hands he might mean something like woodworking, metalworking, generally working "in the shop" making stuff. I'm not unhappy being a programmer, but from time to time I immensely enjoy fixing things at home myself - I see result of my work here and now. Being a programmer I may not see finished result of my work for a long time. I think it is quite beneficial for programmers to dabble in some hobbies that involve some handiwork - be it knitting or making playing dices out of metal.
- anexprogrammer 11y ago
  I'm now in conservation and restoration, so a bit of all of those. I considered restoring old vehicles, but didn't want to end up "just" a mechanic. It was working on cars that was my trigger to get out - I felt so much more satisfaction from restoring a car than I ever did from meeting a ship date. I think because it has a tangible sense of progress and completion, and there's something to point at that's more "real"
  - randcraw 11y ago
    There's a (fair) book on this very subject: "Shop Class as Soulcraft" by Matheww Crawford. He earned a PhD in economics and after working briefly in a Washington think tank he quit and opened a shop repairing antique motorcycles. (That was the plan anyway. I think he really makes his living writing.) I can totally relate to the need to have a life outside the virtual world. I've been programming for 30 years (data analysis in R&D mostly), and while I love the intellectual stimulation from writing code to do something new, I also crave physical contact with the world. But it's still not clear to me how best to make that work. Can I do this as part of a job, or must this happen only after hours? I considered working in robotics, since that seemed an ideal mix of the two realms, but I'd rather not feed the military maw, which is where 95% of the work is. Maybe I should just reorg my garage to add room for a workbench and join the ranks of shadetree mechs. Lord knows I have enough machinery that need wrenching...

cauterized 11y ago

What are you doing now?

krsgoss 11y ago

Hi, what did you do for a career change if it's okay to ask?