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I sometimes wonder if all these independent companies who appear to make coordinated technical decisions are just hitting the same frustrations at the same time

I sometimes wonder if all these independent companies who appear to make coordinated technical decisions are just hitting the same frustrations at the same time, or if engineers just read each other's blogs and and then pitch the blog ideas at their meetings. And then write a blog about it, which other engineers at other companies read and pitch at their meeting. So basically it becomes a self-perpetuating meme.

ClumsyPilot 4y ago
I thought I was going to be an egnineer, and my decisions would be based on physics. But I am more of a writer and decisions are driven by fashion
- Apocryphon 4y ago
  The intersection of technology and liberal arts, baby
dspillett 4y ago
> So basically it becomes a self-perpetuating meme. Sometimes many people in different places have had concerns, or ideas for a better way forward, for some time but have either but spoken up or have had the "everyone else seems to be dealing with it" reaction. In such cases it takes a certain critical mass of information supporting the change to get movement, that critical mass builds slowly but once it is reached the immediate reaction can appear explosive, and there are sometimes aftershocks back & forth, much like an earthquake caused by plate movement. So while there is some self fulfilling chain reaction feeding into it, there is usually some true need involved for a lot of the teams concerned.
- awb 4y ago
  I’ve worked on several projects with relatively new web/mobile tech and the line: “Here’s how we solved it at my previous company” or “Here’s how [similar size, well marketed company] is doing it” is extremely persuasive to management and fellow engineers as it de-risks the situation. By the time the new idea has its new problems, the company you followed (or one similar) has probably already posted about solving it, or shared a newer new idea you can try.
yellow_lead 4y ago
Most companies tend to have some development "thought leaders" that propose big shifts like this (and use some politicking to advocate their views), and sometimes the "big thing" ends up working, and sometimes it ends up being a disaster.

ClumsyPilot 4y ago

I thought I was going to be an egnineer, and my decisions would be based on physics. But I am more of a writer and decisions are driven by fashion

Apocryphon 4y ago
The intersection of technology and liberal arts, baby

dspillett 4y ago

> So basically it becomes a self-perpetuating meme. Sometimes many people in different places have had concerns, or ideas for a better way forward, for some time but have either but spoken up or have had the "everyone else seems to be dealing with it" reaction. In such cases it takes a certain critical mass of information supporting the change to get movement, that critical mass builds slowly but once it is reached the immediate reaction can appear explosive, and there are sometimes aftershocks back & forth, much like an earthquake caused by plate movement. So while there is some self fulfilling chain reaction feeding into it, there is usually some true need involved for a lot of the teams concerned.

awb 4y ago
I’ve worked on several projects with relatively new web/mobile tech and the line: “Here’s how we solved it at my previous company” or “Here’s how [similar size, well marketed company] is doing it” is extremely persuasive to management and fellow engineers as it de-risks the situation. By the time the new idea has its new problems, the company you followed (or one similar) has probably already posted about solving it, or shared a newer new idea you can try.

yellow_lead 4y ago

Most companies tend to have some development "thought leaders" that propose big shifts like this (and use some politicking to advocate their views), and sometimes the "big thing" ends up working, and sometimes it ends up being a disaster.