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From the article: "* 1) I could email all the staff and ask them to email me the data every month and compile it manually. 2) Find some software that would al
by FrojoS 15y ago
From the article:
"* 1) I could email all the staff and ask them to email me the data every month and compile it manually.
2) Find some software that would allow me to do this relatively easily.
3)Program a solution myself that is perfectly tailored to the process."
He choose 3) but what about
4) Get a even better result by bringing in a professional. For instance a contracter.*
?
Still, great that he learned programming. I personally find it perfectly OK, that almost
"[...] EVERY interface you employ on a day to day basis is likely created by someone else. "
As long as I believe that I,
a) understand the key processes that are involved creating it.
b) have the tools and knowledge available to recreate or adapt it if I need to.
Of course, this does NOT mean, that I would likely design my own CPU [1]. But I would e.g. feel comfortable building my own, individualized, laptop [2], if I really had to.
Being able to do things by yourself makes you independent. But having almost everything done by someone else is progress.
[1] It would be nice to have state of the art open micro chips. But, imho, as long as the manufacturing process is as large scale and costly as it is, a free CPU design would be quite useless.
[2] Similar to how a company like Acer does. I 'just' select all the hardware components I need, a free OS and design my own case.
- grovulent 15y agoWell I can give you some insight into the difficulty of 4 - in my particular circumstance... Assuming I can convince my boss that the task requires a professional... she then has to take it to the admin leaders committee and pitch it to the head of school. The head of school might make an executive decision on it, but more likely he will take it to the PR committee to discuss if hard to come by funds are worth spending on it. Questions will be asked as to why this can't be delegated to the university tech folk. Arguments have to be made. Our finance guy then has to find the funds. More discussions... As to your other point. I agree entirely that deference to existing solutions is always preferable - IF those solutions meet your desires. But I would stress the following two points: 1) I see people engaged in manual administrative tasks on daily basis that they could work to automate to a large degree. There are no existing solutions to them. These processes are often idiosyncratic - and there is no wider market for an automated solution. However, such a solution would do wonders for those having to carry out those processes. 2) I said that existing solutions that meet your desires are always preferable... but what if your desires are constrained by the interfaces with which you have been bequeathed? We have this Cartesian understanding of self wherein everything about US is thought to spring forth from an irreducible, internal essence. But desires are contextually determined to a very large degree. My larger point is that an ability to create your own interfaces might just liberate your desires in ways that are difficult to imagine for people who don't have such skills. The latter point is at least an interesting empirical hypothesis that deserves some thought...
- FrojoS 15y agoThanks for your reply! This sounds like one of those perfect examples, why beeing your own boss can be several magnitudes more effective [1]. I totaly agree to 1) and 2) plus I do agree, that it would be great if everyone who has a computer would be able to really make use of it. And that, sure does require programing skills. [1] I'm suffering with you here. Writing this post on a lab computer where I'm not permitted to install software. Hence, I can't install GIT and now use Dropbox web interface to transfer the code that I develop on my Mac Book. No wonder procastination is more fun ;-)
- wisty 15y agoAnother issue is that discussing project requirements is usually done very badly. If you don't know any programming, you won't know when to ask for a professional. You know that an automated weekly task is easy. You know that scraping names out of an API is easy. So you can do it yourself, or pay a pro a few hundred to do it. If the task to be automated was different, i.e. "put all the confidential emails into a special folder, and forward everything else to a public archive" then it would a little more expensive. You only know that because you know that computers can't differentiate "private" emails, wich you know because you know how to program.