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Things are mostly fine as they are(Aside from the rise of locked down, mandatory encrypted, cloud dependent stuff), but people definitely have lost some compute

Things are mostly fine as they are(Aside from the rise of locked down, mandatory encrypted, cloud dependent stuff), but people definitely have lost some computer literacy. Not that they lost much that they couldn't google, even programming is easier than ever, the hard stuff is specialist work like OS and hardware design. It's not like we need average people to know ASM and C. But people do seem to have lost some of the interest. As I've said before, programming is easier than most other human activities, things like playing guitar or being a cashier are not only hard, they require skills that can't even be described fully. But programming/IT/etc still takes time to learn, and I do think people probably are somewhat fried from all the short form content and less interested in anything that has a slow and careful process.

wvenable 4y ago
Programming might be easy but software development is incredibly difficult. The average person will be hundreds of times more successful picking up a guitar or being a cashier than releasing a useful piece of software. Software development is incredibly difficult and a lot of people who are employed programmers aren't very good at it.
- denton-scratch 4y ago
  Picking up a guitar might be easy; playing an instrument well is hard. They say it takes ten years; I'd say it takes about that long to be a good software developer. And like being a musician, most people bail out before they've learned. A few people stick with it and still don't get good (the management promotion route is this way!). Let's pass over the cashier thing; I was a cashier exactly once, on an exchange trip, so in a foreign language. I got the hang of it in about 20 minutes.
Karrot_Kream 4y ago
Writing stable, production-ready software is a grind. The personalities in software teams are often grumpy. I know many junior engineers who loved writing code and were dismayed at what went into writing production-grade software. Some of them moved to startups where the stakes were lower or they could work on MVPs, many transitioned into roles like PM or sales engineer, but a decent chunk just left software altogether. I love software so I won't leave but I know it's not for everyone.

wvenable 4y ago

Programming might be easy but software development is incredibly difficult. The average person will be hundreds of times more successful picking up a guitar or being a cashier than releasing a useful piece of software. Software development is incredibly difficult and a lot of people who are employed programmers aren't very good at it.

denton-scratch 4y ago
Picking up a guitar might be easy; playing an instrument well is hard. They say it takes ten years; I'd say it takes about that long to be a good software developer. And like being a musician, most people bail out before they've learned. A few people stick with it and still don't get good (the management promotion route is this way!). Let's pass over the cashier thing; I was a cashier exactly once, on an exchange trip, so in a foreign language. I got the hang of it in about 20 minutes.

Karrot_Kream 4y ago

Writing stable, production-ready software is a grind. The personalities in software teams are often grumpy. I know many junior engineers who loved writing code and were dismayed at what went into writing production-grade software. Some of them moved to startups where the stakes were lower or they could work on MVPs, many transitioned into roles like PM or sales engineer, but a decent chunk just left software altogether. I love software so I won't leave but I know it's not for everyone.