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I think most technical folks' occupancy of your latter two problem sets isn't so much for lack of interest in new, hairy-scary problems. It's for want of the n

I think most technical folks' occupancy of your latter two problem sets isn't so much for lack of interest in new, hairy-scary problems. It's for want of the necessary tools to do so. On the flip side, it's my guess a lot of hackers consider themselves new-problem-solvers-in-training. A 22 year old computer guy may not be solving the clean water and efficient energy problems of the world, but could conceivably have aspirations to do so when his or her talent is matched with the right street savvy, is matched with the right entrepreneurial network, is matched with the right funding opportunities, and so on. So in a lot of cases it's a question of "when," not "whether." And if it's people breaking new ground in computer work you're after, you've got to make sure you're in the right ballpark; Plenty of universities are doing remarkable things in CS, but again, it's usually older entrepreneurs (with money and know-how) who get their hands on new tech through the technology commercialization centers. Which is to say that new problems are being solved (in CS, too), just in different territories and in different ways than we hear about in mainstream tech news.

aaronblohowiak 18y ago
What kind of tooling is lacking? Your point about being in-training is an interesting one, particularly for the readers of this site. Where do you find out about the remarkable things that people are doing in CS? Also, are you suggesting that most interesting new CS work comes out of universities? If so, does that mean "If you want to solve problems, go to grad school. if you want to make money, start a me-too business?"
- brianlash 18y ago
  Where do you find out about the remarkable things that people are doing in CS? Good question. I'd start in the pages of Technology Review.
- scott_s 18y ago
  Check out the ACM publications: http://www.acm.org/publications http://www.acm.org/publications The Queue has decent stuff, but the real meat is looking at conference proceedings.
mooneater 18y ago
Going out on a limb a little, I would say in most areas (aside from the few that always seem to be in the headlines around here), no-one has really bothered applying even the basic insights of CS, math, and engineering. There are just so many "backwater" areas of the business and science worlds, ripe for optimization, and not enough CS types with strong fundamental skills, attacking them. I guess they are all concentrated in the "hot" companies and focussed on the "hot" areas instead. =) I was very surprised when I realized this. It was kinda akin to learning Santa wasn't real (edit: but in reverse!) Its hard to see these opportunities from the surface, I guess they are like deep water fish - so hitch a ride with a submarine =p and start with one based on the contacts you have.

aaronblohowiak 18y ago

What kind of tooling is lacking? Your point about being in-training is an interesting one, particularly for the readers of this site. Where do you find out about the remarkable things that people are doing in CS? Also, are you suggesting that most interesting new CS work comes out of universities? If so, does that mean "If you want to solve problems, go to grad school. if you want to make money, start a me-too business?"

brianlash 18y ago
Where do you find out about the remarkable things that people are doing in CS? Good question. I'd start in the pages of Technology Review.
scott_s 18y ago
Check out the ACM publications: http://www.acm.org/publications http://www.acm.org/publications The Queue has decent stuff, but the real meat is looking at conference proceedings.

mooneater 18y ago

Going out on a limb a little, I would say in most areas (aside from the few that always seem to be in the headlines around here), no-one has really bothered applying even the basic insights of CS, math, and engineering. There are just so many "backwater" areas of the business and science worlds, ripe for optimization, and not enough CS types with strong fundamental skills, attacking them. I guess they are all concentrated in the "hot" companies and focussed on the "hot" areas instead. =) I was very surprised when I realized this. It was kinda akin to learning Santa wasn't real (edit: but in reverse!) Its hard to see these opportunities from the surface, I guess they are like deep water fish - so hitch a ride with a submarine =p and start with one based on the contacts you have.