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I think it actually is different now. When I was in college (1989-1993), people did CS stuff because they thought computers were cool and could do things that

by jblow 15y ago

I think it actually is different now. When I was in college (1989-1993), people did CS stuff because they thought computers were cool and could do things that were kind of amazing. Some were more visionary than others, of course. There was a vague idea that you could make a lot of money doing it, but it wasn't why one did things. Now it seems the opposite of that. Especially here. Everyone is all startup, startup, startup. Honestly it makes me feel a bit ill, because there is very little talk of why one might do things and what is ultimately important. I do think the support network built up by YC is great, and it is really exciting to see that young people just out of school can find support to go and do something new and interesting. But I think the actual projects coming out of this process are usually kind of bankrupt when it comes to things that I value. I went to YC Demo Day a year ago with the intention to definitely invest, but I got so disheartened by the projects being presented that I never ended up investing anything. (Actually I wanted to write a check to Leftronic but they never returned my email.)

frossie 15y ago
I think it actually is different now. Oh yes it is different now. You know what's different? That you can be a housebound lonely widow and be able to share your needlework tips with somebody an ocean away. That you can be gay in a small town and not think you are the only person who feels like that in the world. That you can be a kid in a remote village, and sitting outside the closed town hall, leech the wi-fi so you can look at the space station video from NASA. That you can be a parent whose kid is having chemotherapy and can find people who can tell you how to nurture its failing appetite. I don't care how many money-grubbing heartless villains (real or imaginary) there are on the internet, if someone thinks its net contribution to mankind is negative, they must have led a lucky life.
- Groxx 15y ago
  Since I just found it, and it's more CS focused, and it resonates: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2825480 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2825480 (especially bignoggins' reply) Individual empowerment seems to me to have grown astronomically in recent years. Do we really want to rewind time back to Usenet years?
Groxx 15y ago
I had a different response written, before I decided to start over due to a realization. The problem is that your (and the OP's) social circles have changed, and you haven't sought out new ones. For some reason, you expected [x], as it existed at [time y], to stay the way it was, for all time. Change happens. Expecting otherwise is foolish in the extreme. What is around you has changed, and has changed you, and you haven't sought out something better, so you blame your surroundings. You went to YC Demo Day - why didn't you go somewhere else? Why did you wait for them to come to you, at an extremely famous conference no less? If you want to re-experience the good old days, find the ones who share your ideals - you had to do that in the past. That's how YC started (I'm idealizing it, to serve as an example - I don't know the facts). People didn't simply show up and beg to do something good the day PG was born, they had to be found, the culture had to be grown, until it grew into the behemoth it is now and started attracting all kinds. Your surroundings have changed, why haven't you changed your surroundings? You had to do that to get to the good old days, why aren't you still? Or did you simply coast into a seemingly-ideal world, and are now forgetting / ignoring that your colleagues (and slightly earlier) essentially created the dot-com boom? Were their intentions really so pure? If the culture you entered into is what you wanted, but you don't want to do the work necessary to continually re-create it, why are you surprised that you can't find it now? Think about all the time and effort that went into creating it prior to your entry - if you aren't exerting similar effort, why are you blaming others that it changed? If the YC-of-old is what you want, why are you going to the YC-of-now, and not working to create what you want? That kind of risk and effort went into creating it in the first place, if people aren't willing to do so it will not happen. And that has not changed. And more people than ever are putting in that effort, by sheer virtue of an increase in raw quantity. That you have drifted away from that world doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- jblow 15y ago
  You are making a lot of weird assumptions. I do have surroundings appropriate to me, and a circle of peers who have a value system I find interesting, etc, etc. What I am talking about is what I perceive to be the mindset of a great many young people entering the working world today. This has nothing to do with where I hang out (indeed, I avoid stuff like that, actively!) YC Demo Day, I went to because I didn't have the full picture of what it was like. Now that I know, I have not gone back.

by jblow 15y ago

frossie 15y ago

I think it actually is different now. Oh yes it is different now. You know what's different? That you can be a housebound lonely widow and be able to share your needlework tips with somebody an ocean away. That you can be gay in a small town and not think you are the only person who feels like that in the world. That you can be a kid in a remote village, and sitting outside the closed town hall, leech the wi-fi so you can look at the space station video from NASA. That you can be a parent whose kid is having chemotherapy and can find people who can tell you how to nurture its failing appetite. I don't care how many money-grubbing heartless villains (real or imaginary) there are on the internet, if someone thinks its net contribution to mankind is negative, they must have led a lucky life.

Groxx 15y ago
Since I just found it, and it's more CS focused, and it resonates: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2825480 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2825480 (especially bignoggins' reply) Individual empowerment seems to me to have grown astronomically in recent years. Do we really want to rewind time back to Usenet years?

Groxx 15y ago

I had a different response written, before I decided to start over due to a realization. The problem is that your (and the OP's) social circles have changed, and you haven't sought out new ones. For some reason, you expected [x], as it existed at [time y], to stay the way it was, for all time. Change happens. Expecting otherwise is foolish in the extreme. What is around you has changed, and has changed you, and you haven't sought out something better, so you blame your surroundings. You went to YC Demo Day - why didn't you go somewhere else? Why did you wait for them to come to you, at an extremely famous conference no less? If you want to re-experience the good old days, find the ones who share your ideals - you had to do that in the past. That's how YC started (I'm idealizing it, to serve as an example - I don't know the facts). People didn't simply show up and beg to do something good the day PG was born, they had to be found, the culture had to be grown, until it grew into the behemoth it is now and started attracting all kinds. Your surroundings have changed, why haven't you changed your surroundings? You had to do that to get to the good old days, why aren't you still? Or did you simply coast into a seemingly-ideal world, and are now forgetting / ignoring that your colleagues (and slightly earlier) essentially created the dot-com boom? Were their intentions really so pure? If the culture you entered into is what you wanted, but you don't want to do the work necessary to continually re-create it, why are you surprised that you can't find it now? Think about all the time and effort that went into creating it prior to your entry - if you aren't exerting similar effort, why are you blaming others that it changed? If the YC-of-old is what you want, why are you going to the YC-of-now, and not working to create what you want? That kind of risk and effort went into creating it in the first place, if people aren't willing to do so it will not happen. And that has not changed. And more people than ever are putting in that effort, by sheer virtue of an increase in raw quantity. That you have drifted away from that world doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
jblow 15y ago
You are making a lot of weird assumptions. I do have surroundings appropriate to me, and a circle of peers who have a value system I find interesting, etc, etc. What I am talking about is what I perceive to be the mindset of a great many young people entering the working world today. This has nothing to do with where I hang out (indeed, I avoid stuff like that, actively!) YC Demo Day, I went to because I didn't have the full picture of what it was like. Now that I know, I have not gone back.