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My question for developers and engineers (on HN) today is this. Do you think that people like Hertzfeld, Atkinson, Wozniak etc were super special in the way th
by gist 8y ago
My question for developers and engineers (on HN) today is this.
Do you think that people like Hertzfeld, Atkinson, Wozniak etc were super special in the way they are portrayed? Or were they simply around at a time when there was little competition in terms of competition? (Not saying they don't have talent just is it godlike?
I am reminded of what I thought was 'smart' based on people in my own local school. Then you get out in the world and you realize there are so many people that probably have much more ability, drive etc and they appear to far exceed what I thought was 'great'.
I think about this any time I see a field that is sparsely populated. Things like fighting wild fires or observing things in Antartica. Not like there are hundreds of thousands of people doing that but then from that small group you end up with 'experts'. (And maybe they are but usually a larger number would yield more qualified 'experts', right?)
- JKCalhoun 8y agoI think it's both: right place at the right time, but so were a lot of other people. Some rose above the rest. Woz was a hobbyist at a time when a hobbyist could get his hobby mainstream. There was only a year at most when you could do that with the "home computer".