7 ms·

> I am frustrated by the industry as a whole. I feel industry is simply following marketing trends. My work lands me in a number of different conferences in no

> I am frustrated by the industry as a whole. I feel industry is simply following marketing trends. My work lands me in a number of different conferences in non-software industries. This is true for all industries. Its just that ours has a faster revolving door. That, in addition to a low barrier to entry (anyone can claim they're a web developer), leads to a higher degree of this madness. Its just part of human behavior to seek out, and parrot, social signals that let others know you, too, are an insider. Personally, I have to avoid a great number of those gatherings, since the lot of them are just a circlejerk of low-density information. If I pay too much attention to those events, I catch myself looking down my nose, and since that isn't productive/healthy behavior, I avoid landing myself in a place where guys with buddy-holly glasses and <obscure-craft-beer> argue which Wordpress plugin is the best.

discordianfish 10y ago
Another way to signal others that you, too, are an insider is by calling a current trend a hype.
- ryanmaynard 10y ago
  I agree, and am guilty as charged.
- ryanmaynard 10y ago
  To make a clarification, I was not calling Docker hype, nor specifically remarking on any particular item. I use docker religiously. I even use dokku for about 30+ toy projects. My remark was to highlight that buzzwords are often used for "me-too" ankle-deep conversations/articles. Whether someone calls it Devops, or Systems Engineering, makes no difference to me. However, I favor pragmatic conversations about the topic, rather than buzzword bingo. Examples include: "MongoDB sucks.", "Everyone should use Docker", and "What? You mean you're not using Kubernetes for your CRUD app?" Basically, blanket statements that accomplish nothing more than to send social signals.
- coldtea 10y ago
  From 20+ years of experience and having seen tons of trends just die, most are just that, hype.
  - pyre 10y ago
    But calling everything that's new "hype" and pointing to the past as the only things that are "real" or "solid" is also a form of groupthink.
    - coldtea 10y ago
      Yeah, but I think it's the inverse kind of groupthink than what the industry suffers from. So it's healthy to embrace it as counter-balance to the constant hype. (Besides, whether something is "real" or "solid" I think can mostly be answered in hindsight -- when it's mature enough and tested enough. In which case calling only things in the past solid is prudent).

discordianfish 10y ago

Another way to signal others that you, too, are an insider is by calling a current trend a hype.

ryanmaynard 10y ago
I agree, and am guilty as charged.
ryanmaynard 10y ago
To make a clarification, I was not calling Docker hype, nor specifically remarking on any particular item. I use docker religiously. I even use dokku for about 30+ toy projects. My remark was to highlight that buzzwords are often used for "me-too" ankle-deep conversations/articles. Whether someone calls it Devops, or Systems Engineering, makes no difference to me. However, I favor pragmatic conversations about the topic, rather than buzzword bingo. Examples include: "MongoDB sucks.", "Everyone should use Docker", and "What? You mean you're not using Kubernetes for your CRUD app?" Basically, blanket statements that accomplish nothing more than to send social signals.
coldtea 10y ago
From 20+ years of experience and having seen tons of trends just die, most are just that, hype.
- pyre 10y ago
  But calling everything that's new "hype" and pointing to the past as the only things that are "real" or "solid" is also a form of groupthink.
  - coldtea 10y ago
    Yeah, but I think it's the inverse kind of groupthink than what the industry suffers from. So it's healthy to embrace it as counter-balance to the constant hype. (Besides, whether something is "real" or "solid" I think can mostly be answered in hindsight -- when it's mature enough and tested enough. In which case calling only things in the past solid is prudent).