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Ask HN: What was it like for programmers when spreadsheets became ubiquitous?

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Re: Ask HN: What was it like for programmers when spreadsheets became ubiquitous?

#11

Post by sloaken »

A friend of mine who graduated in 1983 with a computer science and an accounting degree, had an interview for an accounting job. Accounting was his actual passion, but he also enjoyed programming. He was told at one interview:

'Your computer science degree is useless. With this spreadsheet program I can do everything. There is no longer a need for programmers'

I think he was wrong, just like Thomas J Watson (CEO of IBM 1943 quote: "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.")

So when I hear AI will replace ... I think it will enhance and redefine.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like for programmers when spreadsheets became ubiquitous?

#12

Post by pants2 »

sloaken wrote: post #11

A friend of mine who graduated in 1983 with a computer science and an accounting degree, had an interview for an accounting job. Accounting was his actual passion, but he also enjoyed programming. He was told at one interview: 'Your computer science degree is useless. With this spreadsheet program I can do everything. There is no longer a need for programmers' I think he was wrong, just like Thomas J Watson (CEO of I…

To be fair it's very rare for an accountant today to know a proper programming language. I wish that was part of their training since from my perspective accountants could really benefit from git, SQL, and a little Python.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like for programmers when spreadsheets became ubiquitous?

#13

Post by tompark »

It's possible that mainframe Oracle DBAs working on glass house HP 9000s looked at PC databases as toys, but within the PC industry these tools were considered powerful. Any growth of PC usage was a rising tide that lifted all the boats in the PC industry. If you had some experience programming in C, it was pretty easy to get a job. There weren't 100's (or 1000's) of job applicants for each position. If it was a niche segment, you could even know all the other candidates for an opening, as in "No Other Choice". (I was in a niche like that, developing architectural and facilities mgmt PC CAD software, then later cartography, for Microstation.)

I think the production shift from agriculture to manufacturing, or manufacturing to services, is probably a better way to understand what's happening now.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like for programmers when spreadsheets became ubiquitous?

#14

Post by sloaken »

pants2 wrote: post #12
sloaken wrote: post #11

A friend of mine who graduated in 1983 with a computer science and an accounting degree, had an interview for an accounting job. Accounting was his actual passion, but he also enjoyed programming. He was told at one interview: 'Your computer science degree is useless. With this spreadsheet program I can do everything. There is no longer a need for programmers' I think he was wrong, just like Thomas J Watson (CEO of I…

To be fair it's very rare for an accountant today to know a proper programming language. I wish that was part of their training since from my perspective accountants could really benefit from git, SQL, and a little Python.

I agree, and would push it further, that almost all professionals need to have a basic understanding of Logic and programming. At least to create a Sort routine (without copying it).

I believe schools should require a Logic (not just philosophy) class.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like for programmers when spreadsheets became ubiquitous?

#16

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

exabrial wrote: post #4

I was alive when the internet was not a thing and remember my neighbor getting a beefy hotrod 486 which was significantly faster than my 286 I scrapped together a lot of money for as a kid. I liken AI to more like sewing machines. Lets say our factory output was 10 tshirts a day by hand sewing. When sewing machines came around, we din't make 10 tshirts by 8:30am, send everyone home and pat ourselves on the back. Inst…

The tech incumbents are so entrenched - what competitors do they need to hire more developers to outcompete?

According to all of their latest earning calls, Amazon, Google (?), Microsoft and Apple have all said their revenue growth was constrained by lack of TSMCs manufacturing capacity to get the chips they needed.

All four of them could stop developing new software for a couple of years and not lose any customers. You could probably say the same about the second tier companies like Salesforce and Uber.

The difference is that while the slope might be lower for sales/employees for physical goods as technology gets better, you don’t need more software engineers as more of your digital products are sold

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