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> Companies should realize doing things that seem "fluffy" and not entirely necessary, like moving to a newer tech stack, might be worth it as it will make it e
by maltalex 7y ago
> Companies should realize doing things that seem "fluffy" and not entirely necessary, like moving to a newer tech stack, might be worth it as it will make it easier to attract new talent.
Why are we as professionals (myself included, I'm not immune) so obsessed with shiny new things?
Updating a product's tech stack just to attract new talent and not because the product needs it is objectively strange. Imagine if roads were torn down and rebuilt just because civil engineers wanted to try out some new road laying thingy.
- asdfman123 7y agoI felt the same way when I closely followed indie rock, too. You have to pay close attention to all the new buzz coming out or you'll be at risk of being left behind and outed as "no longer with it." I assume the same thing goes for stuff like, say, fashion and art too. Funny how it has everything to do with style, and far less to do with engineering.
- triceratops 7y agoRoad-laying technology doesn't develop at the pace that computer technology does. We went from room-sized mainframes to powerful pocket computers in 40 years. Working on "new things" is objectively more interesting and pays better - modulo the COBOL devs making $500/hr now.
- hollerith 7y agoYou are describing advances in semiconductor performance whereas the person you are responding to has in mind things like new programming languages, libraries and frameworks, many of which we cannot even confidently say are advances at all.
- triceratops 7y agoNew programming languages, libraries, and frameworks often tend to go in lockstep with semi-conductor and hardware advances.
- asdfman123 7y agoAdvancements in semiconductor research have led to wonderfully inefficient front end frameworks.
- triceratops 7y agoThat too :-) But front-end frameworks don't constitute the entirety of new language and framework developments. For instance, having cycles and memory to spare made using fun languages such as Python and Ruby practical. Advances in hardware let (and force) us (to) write applications of far greater complexity. Writing a mobile game is way more involved than a payroll application on big iron.
- aczerepinski 7y agoRoads need to be redone all the time either way so presumably if there’s new tech in the road business they do in fact put it to use.