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Funny, the "new" technological problems I think OP is referring to are rarely things that are that difficult to deal with. But these are the things that contin

by edw519 14y ago

Funny, the "new" technological problems I think OP is referring to are rarely things that are that difficult to deal with. But these are the things that continue to keep me up at night year after year: 10. How clever to get with javascript in the browser without going overboard. 9. How much javascript to depend upon on the client. 8. Optimistic or pessimistic database locking? 7. Do it at compile time or run time? 6. Do it on the client or the server? 5. Keep data on the client or make the round trip? 4. Mouse, keyboard, either one, or something new? 3. Which browsers and/or platforms to support? 2. Simplicity vs. capability in the user interface. 1. How to deal with difficult/stupid people

thetabyte 14y ago
The prevalence of #1 on your list (among other reasons) are why I always have and always will believe that improvements to education yield by far the most return on investment vs any other allocation of resources. Improving education throughout the world is the single best way to increase economic output. Now, things I did not say: * "Put more money into our education system as it is." We are in need of vast improvement, and we should be investing time and money towards innovation and improvement. * "Stop funding and/or stop using our existing educational system." Yes, there are many, many flaws, but our educational systems have improved our society a great deal, and are fantastic avenues and methods of distribution for educational innovation. * "Edtech is the best industry!" I'm still unsold on the edtech space as a way of improving education. Particularly, I fear that our existing models for business, when applied to education, will exclude the vital underpriveleged demographic who have some of the most potential for growth. Aditionally, much of the edtech I see used in schools does little to actually aid student learning—but it certainly does look good on a quarterly newsletter where administrators list what fantastic things they're doing for their school. Whoever figures out how to make equitable, effective educational technology that turns a profit will be one of the preeminent innovators of our time. (Note: If you believe you or your company are doing this, I have Ruby on Rails skills, am willing to learn any technology you work with, and I want to work for you.) In sum: The act of improving the effectiveness of the systems which themselves improve the effectiveness of human capital yields exponential and undervalued economic gains. I hope in the future it receives more focus.
jt2190 14y ago
The problems as you've listed here have no context, which will make them extremely difficult to answer, if not impossible. For example: > How clever to get with javascript in the browser > without going overboard. Depends completely on whether anyone other than you needs to read/maintain the code base, what kind of advantages the "cleverness" brings (performance, maintainability), etc.
- skmurphy 14y ago
  edw519 has not listed problems to be solved but dilemmas/trade-offs to be managed.

by edw519 14y ago

thetabyte 14y ago

The prevalence of #1 on your list (among other reasons) are why I always have and always will believe that improvements to education yield by far the most return on investment vs any other allocation of resources. Improving education throughout the world is the single best way to increase economic output. Now, things I did not say: * "Put more money into our education system as it is." We are in need of vast improvement, and we should be investing time and money towards innovation and improvement. * "Stop funding and/or stop using our existing educational system." Yes, there are many, many flaws, but our educational systems have improved our society a great deal, and are fantastic avenues and methods of distribution for educational innovation. * "Edtech is the best industry!" I'm still unsold on the edtech space as a way of improving education. Particularly, I fear that our existing models for business, when applied to education, will exclude the vital underpriveleged demographic who have some of the most potential for growth. Aditionally, much of the edtech I see used in schools does little to actually aid student learning—but it certainly does look good on a quarterly newsletter where administrators list what fantastic things they're doing for their school. Whoever figures out how to make equitable, effective educational technology that turns a profit will be one of the preeminent innovators of our time. (Note: If you believe you or your company are doing this, I have Ruby on Rails skills, am willing to learn any technology you work with, and I want to work for you.) In sum: The act of improving the effectiveness of the systems which themselves improve the effectiveness of human capital yields exponential and undervalued economic gains. I hope in the future it receives more focus.

jt2190 14y ago

The problems as you've listed here have no context, which will make them extremely difficult to answer, if not impossible. For example: > How clever to get with javascript in the browser > without going overboard. Depends completely on whether anyone other than you needs to read/maintain the code base, what kind of advantages the "cleverness" brings (performance, maintainability), etc.

skmurphy 14y ago
edw519 has not listed problems to be solved but dilemmas/trade-offs to be managed.