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I've been programming since 1984, and it gets more and more exciting as it goes along. I've gone from hacking together moving dots on a BBC Micro to being able

I've been programming since 1984, and it gets more and more exciting as it goes along. I've gone from hacking together moving dots on a BBC Micro to being able to set up code running on a worldwide collection of servers (Google App Engine) that reads from multiple places and posts to a blog running on an engine that's used by millions of people all over the world. And that's in my spare time. Think of all the awesome things you can do nowadays - Mobile phone apps, web pages, amazing games, and so much source code available for free for you to use in your own programs. It's an amazing time we're living in.

mcfunley 15y ago
Exactly. People who think programming is boring these days have completely lost their grip on what is important.
_delirium 15y ago
I suppose it's mainly taste, but the things you mention don't seem too exciting to me technologically, though there are indeed significant increases in the userbase and business ecosystems, so it's a good time to start a tech business (a different question). But I have a preference for more DIYability and less interest in interfacing with APIs and cloud services, which isn't necessarily the Correct preference, but is one. Games? Meh, I keep up on recent games in part because it's my job (oddly enough), but listing my top-10 favorite games, Minecraft is the only post-2000 one I can think of. In general I think they've gotten worse, mostly by focusing way too much on graphical fidelity. Even MMOs are like MUDs v 2.0, and I think in many ways haven't recaptured the depth of community and user-generated content that MUDs/MOOs had, but I admit that you can make a case either way (and Eve Online's community in particular is arguably something new in terms of multiplayer dynamics). And mobile and Facebook gaming seems to consist largely of cloning 80s and 90s games... And the web is just recently catching up to the level of interactivity we had on 1980s networked computer systems, which mostly got thrown out in favor of a pile of hyperlinked documents (plus, later, Flash)... its main advantage is increasing visibility in business and society, so you can do things like buy plane tickets on it, which would've been completely possible with 1980s technology but didn't have the business case for it. I do find workable crowdsourcing, with Wikipedia as the main successful example, to be a very interesting para-technological development, probably an emergent effect of internet connectivity. I guess that ties into whether you fundamentally find the ability to reach millions of people (as you mentioned) interesting. I think it is to some extent, but I think it's also become harder to reach 20-50 people in a meaningful, sustained way; things are much flatter, and recreating something like a BBS community is quite hard (though not impossible). Technologically speaking, I don't really find millions of people necessary; doing interesting things that impresses a few dozen people who engage with it meaningfully (rather than just clicking through off Reddit or HN for a few minutes) is satisfying enough.

mcfunley 15y ago

Exactly. People who think programming is boring these days have completely lost their grip on what is important.

_delirium 15y ago

I suppose it's mainly taste, but the things you mention don't seem too exciting to me technologically, though there are indeed significant increases in the userbase and business ecosystems, so it's a good time to start a tech business (a different question). But I have a preference for more DIYability and less interest in interfacing with APIs and cloud services, which isn't necessarily the Correct preference, but is one. Games? Meh, I keep up on recent games in part because it's my job (oddly enough), but listing my top-10 favorite games, Minecraft is the only post-2000 one I can think of. In general I think they've gotten worse, mostly by focusing way too much on graphical fidelity. Even MMOs are like MUDs v 2.0, and I think in many ways haven't recaptured the depth of community and user-generated content that MUDs/MOOs had, but I admit that you can make a case either way (and Eve Online's community in particular is arguably something new in terms of multiplayer dynamics). And mobile and Facebook gaming seems to consist largely of cloning 80s and 90s games... And the web is just recently catching up to the level of interactivity we had on 1980s networked computer systems, which mostly got thrown out in favor of a pile of hyperlinked documents (plus, later, Flash)... its main advantage is increasing visibility in business and society, so you can do things like buy plane tickets on it, which would've been completely possible with 1980s technology but didn't have the business case for it. I do find workable crowdsourcing, with Wikipedia as the main successful example, to be a very interesting para-technological development, probably an emergent effect of internet connectivity. I guess that ties into whether you fundamentally find the ability to reach millions of people (as you mentioned) interesting. I think it is to some extent, but I think it's also become harder to reach 20-50 people in a meaningful, sustained way; things are much flatter, and recreating something like a BBS community is quite hard (though not impossible). Technologically speaking, I don't really find millions of people necessary; doing interesting things that impresses a few dozen people who engage with it meaningfully (rather than just clicking through off Reddit or HN for a few minutes) is satisfying enough.