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The uncompetitiveness of Britain has been obvious for decades. For a highly developed English-speaking country it is very underrepresented in software tech. Br

by 0xDEF 3y ago

The uncompetitiveness of Britain has been obvious for decades. For a highly developed English-speaking country it is very underrepresented in software tech. Britain should unironically learn to code.

StringyBob 3y ago
> For a highly developed English-speaking country it is very underrepresented in software tech. We’re here quietly - all working for American / multi-national companies. Just little of the Silicon Valley startup culture here in the UK.
- bambataa 3y ago
  The best thing you can do as a British tech worker is not work for a British tech company.
indy 3y ago
I'd strongly disagree with every sentence in your post. Britain does very well in lots of software engineering fields: games, fin-tech, web. We also have good Computer Science courses at universities. Research at these universities is also decent. And in Silicon Valley you don't have to go too far before you hear a British accent.
- Nextgrid 3y ago
  > Britain does very well in lots of software engineering fields: games, fin-tech, web. How much of this is VC-funded "growth & engagement" crap that has no sustainable business model and will go out of business very soon, if it hasn't already?
  - indy 3y ago
    I think you've just described 95% of the companies that Hacker News readers work in.
  - tom_ 3y ago
    Games companies have traditionally proven perfectly capable of going out of business without needing any VC investment.
beardyw 3y ago
If there is a high demand for coders in the UK it suggests that the tech environment is strong. Otherwise what are those coders going to do? I think the issue is more to do with business than technical competence.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
quickthrower2 3y ago
No it is not. What I liked about the UK was you could get a software job anywhere. Not just London, but out in the sticks, some small town, there will be a software company, hiring developers, selling stuff to industry, off the VC radars. In addition you have the knowledge hub of Cambridge, e.g. Microsoft Research and a startup scene in London, as well as being a financial centre that employs lots of IT for that. Britain should learn to code? It invented it! Turing. "Glasgow" Haskell Compiler, etc.
dukeyukey 3y ago
Uh, I don't think that's true. The UK is 3rd in tech investment, only behind the US and China. The other non-US English-speaking countries are _way_ behind the UK here. London alone gets more tech investment than Canada, Australia, and New Zealand combined.
toyg 3y ago
Tbh, as others said, coding is not the problem. Everything else is. In fact, Britain is kinda the poster-boy for the thesis that "learn to code" is not a universal remedy for economic malaise. A large percentage of the population simply can not, and will not, work with computers at a level worth paying for.

by 0xDEF 3y ago

The uncompetitiveness of Britain has been obvious for decades. For a highly developed English-speaking country it is very underrepresented in software tech. Britain should unironically learn to code.

StringyBob 3y ago

> For a highly developed English-speaking country it is very underrepresented in software tech. We’re here quietly - all working for American / multi-national companies. Just little of the Silicon Valley startup culture here in the UK.

bambataa 3y ago
The best thing you can do as a British tech worker is not work for a British tech company.

indy 3y ago

I'd strongly disagree with every sentence in your post. Britain does very well in lots of software engineering fields: games, fin-tech, web. We also have good Computer Science courses at universities. Research at these universities is also decent. And in Silicon Valley you don't have to go too far before you hear a British accent.

Nextgrid 3y ago
> Britain does very well in lots of software engineering fields: games, fin-tech, web. How much of this is VC-funded "growth & engagement" crap that has no sustainable business model and will go out of business very soon, if it hasn't already?
- indy 3y ago
  I think you've just described 95% of the companies that Hacker News readers work in.
- tom_ 3y ago
  Games companies have traditionally proven perfectly capable of going out of business without needing any VC investment.

beardyw 3y ago

If there is a high demand for coders in the UK it suggests that the tech environment is strong. Otherwise what are those coders going to do? I think the issue is more to do with business than technical competence.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

quickthrower2 3y ago

No it is not. What I liked about the UK was you could get a software job anywhere. Not just London, but out in the sticks, some small town, there will be a software company, hiring developers, selling stuff to industry, off the VC radars. In addition you have the knowledge hub of Cambridge, e.g. Microsoft Research and a startup scene in London, as well as being a financial centre that employs lots of IT for that. Britain should learn to code? It invented it! Turing. "Glasgow" Haskell Compiler, etc.

dukeyukey 3y ago

Uh, I don't think that's true. The UK is 3rd in tech investment, only behind the US and China. The other non-US English-speaking countries are _way_ behind the UK here. London alone gets more tech investment than Canada, Australia, and New Zealand combined.

toyg 3y ago

Tbh, as others said, coding is not the problem. Everything else is. In fact, Britain is kinda the poster-boy for the thesis that "learn to code" is not a universal remedy for economic malaise. A large percentage of the population simply can not, and will not, work with computers at a level worth paying for.