4 ms·

drool Post-WWII would have been a great time to be working in tech. "To photograph people's faces from high altitude, we'll need a lens with a 240 inch focal l

by tlb 6y ago

drool Post-WWII would have been a great time to be working in tech. "To photograph people's faces from high altitude, we'll need a lens with a 240 inch focal length." "But our airplanes are only 140 inches diameter". "We'll use mirrors."

systemvoltage 6y ago
This is what I love about United States, England, Russia, etc. during this era as well as pre-WWII. The rate of innovation, the enormous challenges, the bombe, the transitor, the Sputnik and countless innovations that was presumably a result of unity amongst people, great purpose to life and dedication to their nations. Makes my hair stand up thinking about working on a project such as the Boston Camera. People like Feynman walked around alive and computers were being invented. Hey Silicon Valley, why are we working on ads? (myself included). I wanna do something else.
- astrea 6y ago
  Advanced research is happening all over the country (even in your very own backyard in Silicon Valley). You just aren't looking for these types of jobs or are too distracted by the shiny compensation packages
  - caddemon 6y ago
    I kind of feel this way about biology research too though - yeah the stuff we can technically do is really awesome, but the vast majority of the studies (and the system that encourages it to be this way) just feel so algorithmic. Stories of past discoveries sound way more fun, like scientists used to actually just informally try things to see what would happen. On the other hand, this could mostly be selection bias on which stories get passed down. I haven't looked into it rigorously, it's just a feeling I sometimes get when I see the cookie cutter study design/grant writing process going on.
    - astrea 6y ago
      They're also possibly playing the safe game and just chasing ideas that they know will get them grants rather than having the true freedom to experiment. In the times of the World Wars and Cold War I'm sure there was a lot of room to experiment wildly and potentially waste time/money as that was the risk trade-off taken in such desperate times.
- SilverRed 6y ago
  The vast majority of people back then were working even more boring and less creative jobs. Still mountains of stuff being invented now. Almost the entire history of smartphones comes from the last 10 years. If you think this camera in the OP is cool, you should also be impressed that we are putting periscopes and mirrors inside phones to create adjustable zoom that fits in your pocket and costs hardly anything.
  - systemvoltage 6y ago
    My job sucks :-( but the compensation is great so I keep doing it.
    - reasonabl_human 6y ago
      Compensation isn’t everything... although I know how you feel. I’ve been looking for things to hack on on the side if you have any suggestions or interests?
    - gvb 6y ago
      Or, as Dilbert would say "On the plus side, the pellets are excellent" Ref: https://dilbert.com/strip/1995-01-25 https://dilbert.com/strip/1995-01-25
    - the_only_law 6y ago
      Same, here, unfortunately right now, I have to take the time to determine if ambition matches ability.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- v-yadli 6y ago
  What, other than ads, are you expecting from Neoliberalism? ;)
- pottertheotter 6y ago
  I had a similar conversation with my wife yesterday. I was telling her that so much of Silicon Valley seems to be focused on low-value work. The financial investments might pay off well, but the overall value to society is low. Having been an investor, I don't fault anyone for making those investments. But I wish there was more focus on other areas. Another commenter made a valid point that there is a lot else going on, if you're not blinded by high comp. I guess that's true for both investors and employees. There's a lot out there that doesn't work with the current VC model. Some of it is that there are great potential businesses that aren't going to be billion dollar exits. I think a lot of these are more interesting or worthwhile things to work on. There are VCs that will invest in those, but I think the amount of equity they take is too high. Then there are a bunch of great things to work on that require lots of capex. These are also worthwhile and interesting. Other countries are making those investments, and we're going to be in a bad place by not doing the same.
  - throwaway0a5e 6y ago
    People were saying the exact same things about the heavy industry boom of the 1950s and 1960s yet a lot of the technical advances of the time underpin our life today.
- ppod 6y ago
  The unity and dedication "amongst people" was due to inter-national political competition and fear. The overall purpose of these inventions was to threaten mass murder.
dtgriscom 6y ago
Pedant here; focal length and aperture are (literally) orthogonal concepts.

by tlb 6y ago

systemvoltage 6y ago

This is what I love about United States, England, Russia, etc. during this era as well as pre-WWII. The rate of innovation, the enormous challenges, the bombe, the transitor, the Sputnik and countless innovations that was presumably a result of unity amongst people, great purpose to life and dedication to their nations. Makes my hair stand up thinking about working on a project such as the Boston Camera. People like Feynman walked around alive and computers were being invented. Hey Silicon Valley, why are we working on ads? (myself included). I wanna do something else.

astrea 6y ago
Advanced research is happening all over the country (even in your very own backyard in Silicon Valley). You just aren't looking for these types of jobs or are too distracted by the shiny compensation packages
- caddemon 6y ago
  I kind of feel this way about biology research too though - yeah the stuff we can technically do is really awesome, but the vast majority of the studies (and the system that encourages it to be this way) just feel so algorithmic. Stories of past discoveries sound way more fun, like scientists used to actually just informally try things to see what would happen. On the other hand, this could mostly be selection bias on which stories get passed down. I haven't looked into it rigorously, it's just a feeling I sometimes get when I see the cookie cutter study design/grant writing process going on.
  - astrea 6y ago
    They're also possibly playing the safe game and just chasing ideas that they know will get them grants rather than having the true freedom to experiment. In the times of the World Wars and Cold War I'm sure there was a lot of room to experiment wildly and potentially waste time/money as that was the risk trade-off taken in such desperate times.
SilverRed 6y ago
The vast majority of people back then were working even more boring and less creative jobs. Still mountains of stuff being invented now. Almost the entire history of smartphones comes from the last 10 years. If you think this camera in the OP is cool, you should also be impressed that we are putting periscopes and mirrors inside phones to create adjustable zoom that fits in your pocket and costs hardly anything.
- systemvoltage 6y ago
  My job sucks :-( but the compensation is great so I keep doing it.
  - reasonabl_human 6y ago
    Compensation isn’t everything... although I know how you feel. I’ve been looking for things to hack on on the side if you have any suggestions or interests?
  - gvb 6y ago
    Or, as Dilbert would say "On the plus side, the pellets are excellent" Ref: https://dilbert.com/strip/1995-01-25 https://dilbert.com/strip/1995-01-25
  - the_only_law 6y ago
    Same, here, unfortunately right now, I have to take the time to determine if ambition matches ability.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
v-yadli 6y ago
What, other than ads, are you expecting from Neoliberalism? ;)
pottertheotter 6y ago
I had a similar conversation with my wife yesterday. I was telling her that so much of Silicon Valley seems to be focused on low-value work. The financial investments might pay off well, but the overall value to society is low. Having been an investor, I don't fault anyone for making those investments. But I wish there was more focus on other areas. Another commenter made a valid point that there is a lot else going on, if you're not blinded by high comp. I guess that's true for both investors and employees. There's a lot out there that doesn't work with the current VC model. Some of it is that there are great potential businesses that aren't going to be billion dollar exits. I think a lot of these are more interesting or worthwhile things to work on. There are VCs that will invest in those, but I think the amount of equity they take is too high. Then there are a bunch of great things to work on that require lots of capex. These are also worthwhile and interesting. Other countries are making those investments, and we're going to be in a bad place by not doing the same.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  People were saying the exact same things about the heavy industry boom of the 1950s and 1960s yet a lot of the technical advances of the time underpin our life today.
ppod 6y ago
The unity and dedication "amongst people" was due to inter-national political competition and fear. The overall purpose of these inventions was to threaten mass murder.

dtgriscom 6y ago

Pedant here; focal length and aperture are (literally) orthogonal concepts.