3 ms·

"I work in an industry with useful, important, specialized, but unsexy technology." For some reason, I find this very appealing.

by _jpys 4y ago

Aloha 4y ago
It is! There are some advantages in working for a company none of your (non-industry) friends have heard of. You get to talk about your job and explain it without preconceived notions. Also, I feel I'm making an honest to god difference at work, I help people solve difficult problems that are critical for the health of broader society (utilities, transportation, government) that would be hard to solve elsewhere.
visarga 4y ago
Probably great job stability if you do your work well.
- Aloha 4y ago
  Basically, yes. I have several coworkers with 30 years of seniority, and some with 40. It's a job you leave largely of boredom.
rcarmo 4y ago
Me too. I’m in telco, which is an industry full of weird legacy stuff, but the notion of working in a similar silo that isn’t as full of hype appeals to me.
- rahen 4y ago
  I couldn't say it better. XKL sells network switches running TOPS-20 for their management software on an FPGA based PDP-10 (probably the last place one can see and use a 36-biter). It's exotic legacy stuff, and at the same time a breath of fresh air.
taylodl 4y ago
I work for a utility. We use technologies spanning decades. We don't change our technology stacks to enhance people's EV's. For us new technology is technology that's 5 years old. We call it "leading edge" and actually have a strategy to avoid "bleeding edge." We like to use technologies that have been tested out, worked out, and shown to work and has mindshare and tooling. Having been developing for nearly 40 years now the technologies don't really excite me - it's what I'm building and the impact that it's having on its users that motivates me. It sounds like you've found something that motivates you, too.
- 7thaccount 4y ago
  What do you do for the utility?

"I work in an industry with useful, important, specialized, but unsexy technology." For some reason, I find this very appealing.

by _jpys 4y ago

"I work in an industry with useful, important, specialized, but unsexy technology." For some reason, I find this very appealing.

Aloha 4y ago

It is! There are some advantages in working for a company none of your (non-industry) friends have heard of. You get to talk about your job and explain it without preconceived notions. Also, I feel I'm making an honest to god difference at work, I help people solve difficult problems that are critical for the health of broader society (utilities, transportation, government) that would be hard to solve elsewhere.

visarga 4y ago

Probably great job stability if you do your work well.

Aloha 4y ago
Basically, yes. I have several coworkers with 30 years of seniority, and some with 40. It's a job you leave largely of boredom.

rcarmo 4y ago

Me too. I’m in telco, which is an industry full of weird legacy stuff, but the notion of working in a similar silo that isn’t as full of hype appeals to me.

rahen 4y ago
I couldn't say it better. XKL sells network switches running TOPS-20 for their management software on an FPGA based PDP-10 (probably the last place one can see and use a 36-biter). It's exotic legacy stuff, and at the same time a breath of fresh air.

taylodl 4y ago

I work for a utility. We use technologies spanning decades. We don't change our technology stacks to enhance people's EV's. For us new technology is technology that's 5 years old. We call it "leading edge" and actually have a strategy to avoid "bleeding edge." We like to use technologies that have been tested out, worked out, and shown to work and has mindshare and tooling. Having been developing for nearly 40 years now the technologies don't really excite me - it's what I'm building and the impact that it's having on its users that motivates me. It sounds like you've found something that motivates you, too.

7thaccount 4y ago
What do you do for the utility?