5 ms·

Programming is an easy way to procrastinate

48 points by helwr 16y ago

jessor 16y ago
Interestingly enough, this goes somewhat against the PG essays "How to do what you love" and "Good and Bad Procrastination" which I just recently read. I guess he has a point in that there are problems that have to be dealt with and you should go peak into unknown areas from time to time, but generally, I think I have to disagree based on the stuff I learned from PG. Finding someone that loves doing what oneself is avoiding (procrastinating) should be a better solution than self-punishment (I second virtualmice's comment.) Also, I don't like his tone. It's not quite written as a rant but sure sounds like one.
- patrickk 16y ago
  "They want to mindlessly program, or read blogs that tell them how they will get rich. That’s like a girl watching TV all the time and saying she’s training to become an actress." I thought that finished on a really bad note, and was an unnecessary low blow.
strait 16y ago
"For a software developer, software development is the easiest job in the world." -should be replaced with- "For a software developer, software development can be the most satisfying job in the world." Maybe his observations are accurate, but his conclusions are way off. He neglects to mention the psychological shift from the highly abstract mathematical world to the real social world that can really be a difficulty for many people.
- lief79 16y ago
  I agree with the change and, like most posts, there is a bit of exaggeration there, but it's easier to get rich if you can do this. Alternately, you find a co-partner or someone else to off-source the work to. However, as other posters have attested to, finding good assistants can often be an equally difficult problem.
famfam 16y ago
This is so spot on. A lot of people seem to have the mental model of: "hey! i love programming!" dot dot dot (several miles of dots) "hey! i want to be rich!" - "i can program my way to being rich!" No, you can't. You need to design, program, market, and sell, minimally, your way to being rich. Actually, you need to OUTdesign, OUTprogram, OUTmarket, and OUTsell your way to being rich. I get the feeling a lot of people here have built thing after thing they throw on the scrap heap because after they're done building it, it's like "ah crap, I have to like, MARKET this thing now?" Maybe I'm just projecting...
axod 16y ago
Surely the other point is that "wanting to be rich" isn't a good start. "wanting to be successful, create something useful and have fun" is a far better mindset to have. Do something because you love it. Not because you believe it'll make you rich. I don't really agree with the conclusion here particularly, maybe there are some people like that, but there's a sure fire way to be successful. * Create something that solves a problem * Get people to use it * Work out how to monetize it Seems that the average software developer can do 1 and 2 pretty easily without stretching themselves. 3 may be a little more work, but once you have 1 and 2, it's not hard to try a few models and see what works. I'm sure some software developers do fall into the trap of developing something that only solves their own problem, and no one elses, and maybe that's the 'procrastinating' bit.
- famfam 16y ago
  I don't think #1's easy at all. I think identifying real problems is actually incredibly hard. Sure it's easy to dream problems up ("you know, I think my pet needs a microblogging service...) But to identify real problems requires a reasonable amount of domain specific knowledge. For developers, their primary domain tends to be ... software development. And at least for me, there's something strangely unpleasant about work that's so meta/recursive. Not to mention, you might be up against open source, if you're trying to build a saleable product. I mean if you've done your homework on #1, #2 should flow from it, minus bureaucracy/long sales cycles/etc. And so should #3. If you've really solved a real problem, people should see your value.
  - axod 16y ago
    Yeah ok, not easy, but doable. Anyone here could start a "community for fish tank owners" and make a ton of money from it. The problem can be fairly mundane and not even unique. You just have to do it well, be enthusiastic and put your all into it. Also, it's fairly likely you may need to try out 100 ideas, maybe more, before you find one that is good. It's way easier to try 100 ideas until one succeeds, than doing a comprehensive 'on paper' analysis of ideas and assessing the risk of each one, building the one you've chosen, launching it and finding that it falls flat. I seriously shy away from "saleable product", so my thoughts are purely from a conventional ad supported website model.
JoeAltmaier 16y ago
How to make a million dollars, and not pay any taxes! First,...make a million dollars. Then, Don't Pay Any Taxes! - Steve Martin

48 points by helwr 16y ago

Interestingly enough, this goes somewhat against the PG essays "How to do what you love" and "Good and Bad Procrastination" which I just recently read. I guess he has a point in that there are problems that have to be dealt with and you should go peak into unknown areas from time to time, but generally, I think I have to disagree based on the stuff I learned from PG. Finding someone that loves doing what oneself is avoiding (procrastinating) should be a better solution than self-punishment (I second virtualmice's comment.) Also, I don't like his tone. It's not quite written as a rant but sure sounds like one.

patrickk 16y ago
"They want to mindlessly program, or read blogs that tell them how they will get rich. That’s like a girl watching TV all the time and saying she’s training to become an actress." I thought that finished on a really bad note, and was an unnecessary low blow.

strait 16y ago

"For a software developer, software development is the easiest job in the world." -should be replaced with- "For a software developer, software development can be the most satisfying job in the world." Maybe his observations are accurate, but his conclusions are way off. He neglects to mention the psychological shift from the highly abstract mathematical world to the real social world that can really be a difficulty for many people.

lief79 16y ago
I agree with the change and, like most posts, there is a bit of exaggeration there, but it's easier to get rich if you can do this. Alternately, you find a co-partner or someone else to off-source the work to. However, as other posters have attested to, finding good assistants can often be an equally difficult problem.

famfam 16y ago

This is so spot on. A lot of people seem to have the mental model of: "hey! i love programming!" dot dot dot (several miles of dots) "hey! i want to be rich!" - "i can program my way to being rich!" No, you can't. You need to design, program, market, and sell, minimally, your way to being rich. Actually, you need to OUTdesign, OUTprogram, OUTmarket, and OUTsell your way to being rich. I get the feeling a lot of people here have built thing after thing they throw on the scrap heap because after they're done building it, it's like "ah crap, I have to like, MARKET this thing now?" Maybe I'm just projecting...

axod 16y ago

Surely the other point is that "wanting to be rich" isn't a good start. "wanting to be successful, create something useful and have fun" is a far better mindset to have. Do something because you love it. Not because you believe it'll make you rich. I don't really agree with the conclusion here particularly, maybe there are some people like that, but there's a sure fire way to be successful. * Create something that solves a problem * Get people to use it * Work out how to monetize it Seems that the average software developer can do 1 and 2 pretty easily without stretching themselves. 3 may be a little more work, but once you have 1 and 2, it's not hard to try a few models and see what works. I'm sure some software developers do fall into the trap of developing something that only solves their own problem, and no one elses, and maybe that's the 'procrastinating' bit.

famfam 16y ago
I don't think #1's easy at all. I think identifying real problems is actually incredibly hard. Sure it's easy to dream problems up ("you know, I think my pet needs a microblogging service...) But to identify real problems requires a reasonable amount of domain specific knowledge. For developers, their primary domain tends to be ... software development. And at least for me, there's something strangely unpleasant about work that's so meta/recursive. Not to mention, you might be up against open source, if you're trying to build a saleable product. I mean if you've done your homework on #1, #2 should flow from it, minus bureaucracy/long sales cycles/etc. And so should #3. If you've really solved a real problem, people should see your value.
- axod 16y ago
  Yeah ok, not easy, but doable. Anyone here could start a "community for fish tank owners" and make a ton of money from it. The problem can be fairly mundane and not even unique. You just have to do it well, be enthusiastic and put your all into it. Also, it's fairly likely you may need to try out 100 ideas, maybe more, before you find one that is good. It's way easier to try 100 ideas until one succeeds, than doing a comprehensive 'on paper' analysis of ideas and assessing the risk of each one, building the one you've chosen, launching it and finding that it falls flat. I seriously shy away from "saleable product", so my thoughts are purely from a conventional ad supported website model.

JoeAltmaier 16y ago

How to make a million dollars, and not pay any taxes! First,...make a million dollars. Then, Don't Pay Any Taxes! - Steve Martin