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There is another problem. Computer Science just doesn't sound that interesting. Say you could learn to build aircraft engines, understand how the economy works

There is another problem. Computer Science just doesn't sound that interesting. Say you could learn to build aircraft engines, understand how the economy works (which has a huge influence on people's lives) or learn how to make a computer print "hello world" on a terminal screen and how to efficiently store data. Most people wouldn't choose the latter. It's actually quite hard to describe what computer science is and why it is a science.

douche 9y ago
The problem with pure computer science is that it isn't even that interesting to the uninitiated. Who the hell wants to grow up to balance binary trees, derive proofs around number theory, and poke and prod at heaps of linear algebra? Or the other end of the spectrum, where you are a cube-dweller, who shuffles endlessly to Scrum meetings, does email, enter garbage into JIRA, and once in a blue moon gets to write a little code that might possibly be executed as part of some faceless, soulless enterprise monstrosity.
Double_a_92 9y ago
Say you could learn to build sites like facebook or google, understand how the internet works (which has a huge influence on people's lives) or learn how forces bend metal and how to calculate some break even point. Most people wouldn't choose the latter...
amelius 9y ago
Yes, for most people CS == IT. And IT doesn't sound very exciting. Also, in the end, big companies like Google and Facebook are IT companies, or advertisement companies, and they are after your private data. I guess most people would rather choose a more noble goal in life. And finally, tools created by big companies such as Google docs perform worse than wordprocessors of the 90s. Yes, they allow collaboration now, but still, they are perceived as slow. In people's minds, IT is not progressing much.
SomeCollegeBro 9y ago
It's interesting you say that too, because a lot of those "flashy" jobs end up being very similar to a computer science job anyways. There are typically thousands of people designing a jet engine, and individual teams and people are assigned minute tasks of the process (especially engineers). The work goes from "designing a jet engine" to "sourcing proper bolts for a small part of the jet engine".

douche 9y ago

The problem with pure computer science is that it isn't even that interesting to the uninitiated. Who the hell wants to grow up to balance binary trees, derive proofs around number theory, and poke and prod at heaps of linear algebra? Or the other end of the spectrum, where you are a cube-dweller, who shuffles endlessly to Scrum meetings, does email, enter garbage into JIRA, and once in a blue moon gets to write a little code that might possibly be executed as part of some faceless, soulless enterprise monstrosity.

Double_a_92 9y ago

Say you could learn to build sites like facebook or google, understand how the internet works (which has a huge influence on people's lives) or learn how forces bend metal and how to calculate some break even point. Most people wouldn't choose the latter...

amelius 9y ago

Yes, for most people CS == IT. And IT doesn't sound very exciting. Also, in the end, big companies like Google and Facebook are IT companies, or advertisement companies, and they are after your private data. I guess most people would rather choose a more noble goal in life. And finally, tools created by big companies such as Google docs perform worse than wordprocessors of the 90s. Yes, they allow collaboration now, but still, they are perceived as slow. In people's minds, IT is not progressing much.

SomeCollegeBro 9y ago

It's interesting you say that too, because a lot of those "flashy" jobs end up being very similar to a computer science job anyways. There are typically thousands of people designing a jet engine, and individual teams and people are assigned minute tasks of the process (especially engineers). The work goes from "designing a jet engine" to "sourcing proper bolts for a small part of the jet engine".