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I once had people screaming bloody murder at me here on HN for suggesting that, for a professional North American software engineer making a typical US SWE inco
by msbarnett 4y ago
I once had people screaming bloody murder at me here on HN for suggesting that, for a professional North American software engineer making a typical US SWE income, a one-time $150 purchase of a tool you would use daily in your professional capacity was totally reasonable.
There’s a baffling disconnect here between how people perceive their own value of time while feeling entitled to the product of others’ time for essentially nothing.
- exogeny 4y agoIt’s not baffling if you think you are better, and therefore your time is more valuable, than everyone else. And there is nothing more accurate about the average HN user than that. Especially me. I’m the best and smartest.
- burntoutfire 4y agoDo surgeons purchase any od they equipment they use on the operating table, or does hospital provide it all?
- msbarnett 4y agoI would imagine that depends on whether they’re employed by a hospital or incorporating themselves and running their own private clinic. If you’re a salaried SWE, obviously expense the $150. But for a contracting SWE? $150 is really nothing compared to what a woodworker, wedding photographer, welder, or most any other self-employed professional has to spend on their tools.
- gumby 4y agoChefs provide their own knives. A lot of blue collar jobs require purchasing the uniform. Managers and execs in some industries still buy “work clothes” and though work pays for their travel they still buy luggage etc. I keep my work on work owned hardware and my personal stuff on my own computer/phone etc. That means paying for my own 1password etc (I only use free dev tools, as it happens)
- ransom1538 4y agoAuto mechanics, chefs, the entire construction industry, usually provide their own tools. Skilled labor tends to value and keep their tools.