4 ms·
Those things are both boring and economically stolid with no chance to make big windfall returns. How many people graduate in computers and say “now I want to
by api 4y ago
Those things are both boring and economically stolid with no chance to make big windfall returns.
How many people graduate in computers and say “now I want to go maintain 25 year old enterprise Java code for banks?” No? Same principle applies.
It’s hard to get people to maintain the boring stuff in a country with so much interesting shiny new stuff going on.
It doesn’t help that these industries are also low margin and are not attractive investment targets.
- AdamN 4y agoBuffet is a big investor in railroads and they are cash flow machines. It is true that they use very mature technology but plenty of people are train people and would get into it if there was money. Because the 4 big freight companies in the US are so large though (and have dual duopolies meaning investment isn't rewarded), only safety/environmental regulations will drive big projects and spending.
- sophacles 4y agoNet profit margin for 2022 was ~25%. That's on par with the oil industry.
- breakpointalpha 4y agoIt's easy to interest people in maintenance if you pay them. A quick search shows Bank of America turned a net profit in '23 of $6.9B. It would be trivial for them to pay a fleet of engineers $250k/yr+ for Java maintenance. Ignoring maintenance is always a company choice, not a personal one.