3 ms·

Sorry, but those things are technology and should be worked on by technologists because there's literally no on else who can work on them. That's exactly the v

by mjn 14y ago

Sorry, but those things are technology and should be worked on by technologists because there's literally no on else who can work on them. That's exactly the viewpoint that he's arguing against: setting up "technologists" as a kind of high-priest class, the only ones who understand "computers", some nebulous thing that regular people shouldn't bother their heads with, and instead should buy polished, well-engineered consumer experiences. Like Kay and others, he's much more interested in a model of technology that's less black-box. In particular, the thing they object to is the merger of technology/business/design into designing these overarching "experiences" which regular people are just supposed to "use". When such experiences increasingly structure large parts of society, it becomes a bit dangerous of they're all black boxes that regular people aren't supposed to understand or exercise meaningful control over.

drzaiusapelord 14y ago
A "high-priest class" that has tough salary caps and doesn't call the shots? A "high-priest class" that openly publishes its documents and begs others to learn coding and technology? A "high-priest class" whos majority is obsessed with open source, open protocols, etc? Where is this black box? Oh right, it comes down from upper management who is afraid that anything that isn't completely locked down isn't profitable. If anything technologists are an unusually egalitarian and idealistic group. We're the good guys here. If you need a badguy here, go against the companies that refuse to open code, spread FUD, and use embrace/extinguish strategies, not the guy running his pet OSS project that he hopes will change the world. Sorry, but this isn't the middle ages. There's no elite cabal controlling information. The open exchange of ideas, the open market, and letting the best product rise to the top is the winning strategy, and probably will always be the winning strategy. Whining about elitists and conspiracies and having some kind of "I knows a tekkie whens I sees one" attitude is insane.
- antoniuschan99 14y ago
  If you watched the code.org (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nKIu9yen5nc https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=...) it does shed some light that "Tekkies", are still the high priests. I think everyone has encountered the situation where a friend says, "I have an idea for an app! But I don't know how to build it." (Nor would they be eager to learn). My friend who just started learning programming is an Financial Analyst at Cisco and graduated with Honours in Finance. Even a smart guy like him complains and groans as to how hard it is to learn this stuff. And he hasn't even touched MVC and design patterns! The web is still very open and I think there is a major cultural shift going on where programmers are not seen as lowly geeks but as some sort of rockstar (I think this attributes to Steve and Apple showing the world the sexy side of computers, the wealth the Valley has created in an era of recession, and the democratization of software, and also the ubiquity of computing). But I do agree we're the good guys here. Perhaps we're being too general about this and not including "managers in pointy hats" (who don't know how to code) as Tekkies too? Since they dictate large portion of what programmers can and cannot do?
specialist 14y ago
setting up "technologists" as a kind of high-priest class, the only ones who understand "computers" As you know, this happens in every domain, not just computers. To quote the noted political philosopher trio called The Police in their treatise De Do Do Do: Poets priests and politicians Have words to thank for their positions Words that scream for your submission And no-one's jamming their transmission 'Cos when their eloquence escapes you Their logic ties you up and rapes you As an election integrity activist, I had to master the technology of election administration, lest I be laughed at and dismissed by the self-appointed high priesthood. No one should have to work as hard as I did to understand something so fundamental as how our votes are counted. But that's kinda the point, right?

by mjn 14y ago

drzaiusapelord 14y ago

A "high-priest class" that has tough salary caps and doesn't call the shots? A "high-priest class" that openly publishes its documents and begs others to learn coding and technology? A "high-priest class" whos majority is obsessed with open source, open protocols, etc? Where is this black box? Oh right, it comes down from upper management who is afraid that anything that isn't completely locked down isn't profitable. If anything technologists are an unusually egalitarian and idealistic group. We're the good guys here. If you need a badguy here, go against the companies that refuse to open code, spread FUD, and use embrace/extinguish strategies, not the guy running his pet OSS project that he hopes will change the world. Sorry, but this isn't the middle ages. There's no elite cabal controlling information. The open exchange of ideas, the open market, and letting the best product rise to the top is the winning strategy, and probably will always be the winning strategy. Whining about elitists and conspiracies and having some kind of "I knows a tekkie whens I sees one" attitude is insane.

antoniuschan99 14y ago
If you watched the code.org (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nKIu9yen5nc https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=...) it does shed some light that "Tekkies", are still the high priests. I think everyone has encountered the situation where a friend says, "I have an idea for an app! But I don't know how to build it." (Nor would they be eager to learn). My friend who just started learning programming is an Financial Analyst at Cisco and graduated with Honours in Finance. Even a smart guy like him complains and groans as to how hard it is to learn this stuff. And he hasn't even touched MVC and design patterns! The web is still very open and I think there is a major cultural shift going on where programmers are not seen as lowly geeks but as some sort of rockstar (I think this attributes to Steve and Apple showing the world the sexy side of computers, the wealth the Valley has created in an era of recession, and the democratization of software, and also the ubiquity of computing). But I do agree we're the good guys here. Perhaps we're being too general about this and not including "managers in pointy hats" (who don't know how to code) as Tekkies too? Since they dictate large portion of what programmers can and cannot do?

specialist 14y ago

setting up "technologists" as a kind of high-priest class, the only ones who understand "computers" As you know, this happens in every domain, not just computers. To quote the noted political philosopher trio called The Police in their treatise De Do Do Do: Poets priests and politicians Have words to thank for their positions Words that scream for your submission And no-one's jamming their transmission 'Cos when their eloquence escapes you Their logic ties you up and rapes you As an election integrity activist, I had to master the technology of election administration, lest I be laughed at and dismissed by the self-appointed high priesthood. No one should have to work as hard as I did to understand something so fundamental as how our votes are counted. But that's kinda the point, right?