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It's interesting how many of you guys have other interests, but stick to programming since it solves a paycheck problem.

by wkoszek 10y ago

cycomachead 10y ago
On the whole, I think a lot of us really do enjoy coding and it's hard to overestimate how freeing financial security is. It's that security that enables other hobbies, too. I personally enjoy having at least some interests (mainly coffee and photography) that I can pursue without having to worry about costs. If I ever leave programming, I'd probably take one of those up, but I'm afraid the financial support requirements would diminish my enjoyment some. (Sometimes, I want to work on side projects but after programming for 40 hours a week, enough is enough...) I am though considering opening a coffee cart -- but not to make money. Opening a coffee cart sounds fun precisely because I wouldn't need to worry about profitability and I could just focus on providing something tasty and meeting people.
- wkoszek 10y ago
  Your coffee idea, I'm scared to admit, might be both a good business and fun project. Good coffee place across the street is next to my company. They have decent donuts. I go and spend $3.65 there, most of the working days. This is basically like getting $70/mo subscription service--the thing, the most of SaaS startups would kill for. And I now it's not wise monetarily, but I still go there.
Raphmedia 10y ago
Programming? Flipping burgers? The choice is easy. I can't do anything else!
VLM 10y ago
Google fails me now but there was a survey/study that showed most polymaths are ending up in CS or engineering. All I can find via the google is a harvard business review article by the ifixit guy claiming its common knowledge/everyone knows the above and now boring suits can have this secret knowledge, which is not exactly rigorous proof. Famously there was a clustering in the 70s where the Venn diagram of hobby photographers, ham radio guys, and home computer guys was ridiculous near perfect overlap. Obviously, the guy wire wrapping a Z80 board carried a Pentax Spotmatic whenever he went outside (that was the thread mount, not the K mount variant, my dad had a spotmatic I had a K1000) and spent the occasional weekend working DX on 20 meters probably CW. If you were wealthy enough to own a floppy drive in 1982 you had a minimum of 3 interchangeable lenses for your SLR and at least two ham radio antennas on your roof. If you had a compuserve account in '84 then you almost certainly were capable of developing your own black and white film. Also you probably either wanted to, or did, sail or pilot general aviation aircraft or both. That's just how it was back in the old days. It all intermixed too, my dad built a large box of SSI TTL logic to implement a timer for his darkroom enlarger, back then that would have been, I donno, a 20 hour project maybe. I would theorize that whatever genetic "something" makes programmers able to problem solve also makes them polymaths. Or polymaths naturally drift into programming as an easy source of cash.

It's interesting how many of you guys have other interests, but stick to programming since it solves a paycheck problem.

by wkoszek 10y ago

It's interesting how many of you guys have other interests, but stick to programming since it solves a paycheck problem.

cycomachead 10y ago

On the whole, I think a lot of us really do enjoy coding and it's hard to overestimate how freeing financial security is. It's that security that enables other hobbies, too. I personally enjoy having at least some interests (mainly coffee and photography) that I can pursue without having to worry about costs. If I ever leave programming, I'd probably take one of those up, but I'm afraid the financial support requirements would diminish my enjoyment some. (Sometimes, I want to work on side projects but after programming for 40 hours a week, enough is enough...) I am though considering opening a coffee cart -- but not to make money. Opening a coffee cart sounds fun precisely because I wouldn't need to worry about profitability and I could just focus on providing something tasty and meeting people.

wkoszek 10y ago
Your coffee idea, I'm scared to admit, might be both a good business and fun project. Good coffee place across the street is next to my company. They have decent donuts. I go and spend $3.65 there, most of the working days. This is basically like getting $70/mo subscription service--the thing, the most of SaaS startups would kill for. And I now it's not wise monetarily, but I still go there.

Raphmedia 10y ago

Programming? Flipping burgers? The choice is easy. I can't do anything else!

VLM 10y ago

Google fails me now but there was a survey/study that showed most polymaths are ending up in CS or engineering. All I can find via the google is a harvard business review article by the ifixit guy claiming its common knowledge/everyone knows the above and now boring suits can have this secret knowledge, which is not exactly rigorous proof. Famously there was a clustering in the 70s where the Venn diagram of hobby photographers, ham radio guys, and home computer guys was ridiculous near perfect overlap. Obviously, the guy wire wrapping a Z80 board carried a Pentax Spotmatic whenever he went outside (that was the thread mount, not the K mount variant, my dad had a spotmatic I had a K1000) and spent the occasional weekend working DX on 20 meters probably CW. If you were wealthy enough to own a floppy drive in 1982 you had a minimum of 3 interchangeable lenses for your SLR and at least two ham radio antennas on your roof. If you had a compuserve account in '84 then you almost certainly were capable of developing your own black and white film. Also you probably either wanted to, or did, sail or pilot general aviation aircraft or both. That's just how it was back in the old days. It all intermixed too, my dad built a large box of SSI TTL logic to implement a timer for his darkroom enlarger, back then that would have been, I donno, a 20 hour project maybe. I would theorize that whatever genetic "something" makes programmers able to problem solve also makes them polymaths. Or polymaths naturally drift into programming as an easy source of cash.