8 ms·

> On one hand, you have computer science majors who know theory but can’t code their way out of a wet paper bag. If their plan in life is to do research on the

> On one hand, you have computer science majors who know theory but can’t code their way out of a wet paper bag. If their plan in life is to do research on theoretical CS, does it matter? That being said, I doubt that these are that many of them considering that most CS degrees focus on programming. > And let’s not forget the computer science majors who can code and know theory but don’t know anything about business or how to communicate and deal with large organizations. They have a CS degree, not a business or management one.

scarface74 8y ago
Out of all the CS majors, what percentage do you really think are going to be in an ivory tower doing “research” and not working for for profit businesses? Have you never been on discussion boards where brand new CS majors ask for advice on how they can convince their boss to move from their $x million dollar oracle implementation and Java stack to some open source NoSQL database and Node? I don’t see too many people posting on HN - a site sponsored by VC company that funds for profit businesses - talk about their “research”.
- AnaniasAnanas 8y ago
  > what percentage do you really think are going to be in an ivory tower doing “research” Quite small, but does it matter? > and not working for for profit businesses? It's not as if for profit businesses do not have research departments, consider Microsoft Research for example. > a site sponsored by VC company that funds for profit businesses I fail to see how this is relevant. Why the use of the term "ivory tower" and the quotes around the word research? Are you implying that CS research is not real research or something?
  - scarface74 8y ago
    Quite small, but does it matter? Yes it matters because there are 55,000 people graduating in computer science every year (https://danwang.co/why-so-few-computer-science-majors/ https://danwang.co/why-so-few-computer-science-majors/). How many of those do you think will be doing research versus getting a non research job? It's not as if for profit businesses do not have research departments, consider Microsoft Research for example. And they employ a grand total of around 1000 people. How many of those do you think were hired with just an undergrad degree in CS coming straight out of college? I fail to see how this is relevant. Why the use of the term "ivory tower" and the quotes around the word research? Are you implying that CS research is not real research or something? No, it is real research but the vast majority of opportunities for CS grads are outside of research and most businesses are looking for people who can contribute to profit making projects. Ivory Tower research is the type of research that MS does. Very little of it has ended up in shipping products. Compare that to Google, Apple, or Amazon (AWS). MS is littered with failed research. The best thing that Jobs did was kill the research department at Apple and focus research on shipping products.

scarface74 8y ago

Out of all the CS majors, what percentage do you really think are going to be in an ivory tower doing “research” and not working for for profit businesses? Have you never been on discussion boards where brand new CS majors ask for advice on how they can convince their boss to move from their $x million dollar oracle implementation and Java stack to some open source NoSQL database and Node? I don’t see too many people posting on HN - a site sponsored by VC company that funds for profit businesses - talk about their “research”.

AnaniasAnanas 8y ago
> what percentage do you really think are going to be in an ivory tower doing “research” Quite small, but does it matter? > and not working for for profit businesses? It's not as if for profit businesses do not have research departments, consider Microsoft Research for example. > a site sponsored by VC company that funds for profit businesses I fail to see how this is relevant. Why the use of the term "ivory tower" and the quotes around the word research? Are you implying that CS research is not real research or something?
- scarface74 8y ago
  Quite small, but does it matter? Yes it matters because there are 55,000 people graduating in computer science every year (https://danwang.co/why-so-few-computer-science-majors/ https://danwang.co/why-so-few-computer-science-majors/). How many of those do you think will be doing research versus getting a non research job? It's not as if for profit businesses do not have research departments, consider Microsoft Research for example. And they employ a grand total of around 1000 people. How many of those do you think were hired with just an undergrad degree in CS coming straight out of college? I fail to see how this is relevant. Why the use of the term "ivory tower" and the quotes around the word research? Are you implying that CS research is not real research or something? No, it is real research but the vast majority of opportunities for CS grads are outside of research and most businesses are looking for people who can contribute to profit making projects. Ivory Tower research is the type of research that MS does. Very little of it has ended up in shipping products. Compare that to Google, Apple, or Amazon (AWS). MS is littered with failed research. The best thing that Jobs did was kill the research department at Apple and focus research on shipping products.