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Producing really good software is really hard. Here's a tip for all the backwards big companies in Europe: pay your software engineers a lot more. Whatever you

Producing really good software is really hard. Here's a tip for all the backwards big companies in Europe: pay your software engineers a lot more. Whatever you're paying now, increase it by 2x-3x. If you want the best, you're going to have to pay for it, or you're going to suffer the predictably mediocre results indefinitely (to the benefit of Tesla & Co.; Tesla's sales are now up to $67 billion; that's closing in on the size of BMW's consumer auto division).

melony 4y ago
Not just the software, so many cars don't even have a functional touchscreen while requiring use of it for many core features. Hyundai for example like to use really low quality touch screens that are even slower than my old Nokia's resistive display. What is the point of pan-and-zoom in a GPS maps app if the screen can barely keep up in real-time?
- rapsey 4y ago
  Cars have very high temperature requirements for screens. Cars and their screens must survive very hot and very cold temperatures and last decades. Keep in mind the screen is right there under the sun on a hot day. A fancy beautiful tablet screen would last a very short time under car conditions.
  - redox99 4y ago
    Many cars have decent touch screens so it's clearly something doable.
gumby 4y ago
The salaries are a symptom of the problem, not the cause. Most companies in the world (though Europe in particular has no excuse) don't understand that software is a strategic (and existential) issue, so pay for it like any other thing in their BOM. cf my long comment on this subject.
- whb07 4y ago
  Exactly! Most people view things simplistically and even backwards! Why is Shake Shack better tasting than McDonalds? All they have to do is pay them better! Why did Nokia fail when the iPhone launched? All they needed to do was pay devs better, duh!
hnthrow29475792 4y ago
Just paying 3x isn’t the complete story however. It means you might attract better applicants and you’ll have a better chance of closing them, but in the middle is your interview process, staffed by incumbents, who likely have no idea how to evaluate this talent for you. Additionally, an overnight change of this magnitude to your compensation practices in these teams creates substantial pay equity issues versus existing employees which will, at best, result in manageable increases in attrition, and at worst will cause your software department to implode and likely a 9-18 month period where very little gets delivered as you rebuild (from scratch).

melony 4y ago

Not just the software, so many cars don't even have a functional touchscreen while requiring use of it for many core features. Hyundai for example like to use really low quality touch screens that are even slower than my old Nokia's resistive display. What is the point of pan-and-zoom in a GPS maps app if the screen can barely keep up in real-time?

rapsey 4y ago
Cars have very high temperature requirements for screens. Cars and their screens must survive very hot and very cold temperatures and last decades. Keep in mind the screen is right there under the sun on a hot day. A fancy beautiful tablet screen would last a very short time under car conditions.
- redox99 4y ago
  Many cars have decent touch screens so it's clearly something doable.

gumby 4y ago

The salaries are a symptom of the problem, not the cause. Most companies in the world (though Europe in particular has no excuse) don't understand that software is a strategic (and existential) issue, so pay for it like any other thing in their BOM. cf my long comment on this subject.

whb07 4y ago
Exactly! Most people view things simplistically and even backwards! Why is Shake Shack better tasting than McDonalds? All they have to do is pay them better! Why did Nokia fail when the iPhone launched? All they needed to do was pay devs better, duh!

hnthrow29475792 4y ago

Just paying 3x isn’t the complete story however. It means you might attract better applicants and you’ll have a better chance of closing them, but in the middle is your interview process, staffed by incumbents, who likely have no idea how to evaluate this talent for you. Additionally, an overnight change of this magnitude to your compensation practices in these teams creates substantial pay equity issues versus existing employees which will, at best, result in manageable increases in attrition, and at worst will cause your software department to implode and likely a 9-18 month period where very little gets delivered as you rebuild (from scratch).