It's certainly annoyance - and a good amount of it - but cool doesn't come into it. What I'm really railing against is people who talk a good game but seem to b

It's certainly annoyance - and a good amount of it - but cool doesn't come into it. What I'm really railing against is people who talk a good game but seem to be incapable of delivering anything but bad software (regardless of whether what it does is supposed to be "cool", whatever that might mean when taken in context), and includes unreliable. I have to admit that it may not be entirely they're fault: organisational culture shapes you whether you want it to or not. So perhaps what I'm really railing against is a culture of software development that tends to exist in larger organisations. Clearly this isn't universal though - just common. There are notable examples where very large organisations have been able to avoid these problems, at least for a while, even at scale: Google, BBC, parts of Microsoft (I can personally attest to this one), facebook (although hearing from a friend t sounds like they're getting sucked into it). I do find it frustrating that guys like this style themselves as thought-leaders - and often succeed - whilst unfailingly focussing on the wrong points, and making themselves a complete pain in the ass to everyone they work with. The other point is that as I've got older it's become starkly obvious to me that I only have so much time left. Obviously that's always been true but when I was younger I suppose I just didn't take it that seriously, and that's sort of a gentle regret. And that's really for everyone: you don't have all the time in the world so if there's something you want to do then get on and do it - sometimes you have to do things just to make ends meet but, as far as is possible, don't subject yourself to anyone who's going to hinder you on that journey.