Off topic
From the HN guidelines:
Please don't complain that a submission is inappropriate. If a story is spam or off-topic, flag it.
Review of _Bullshit Jobs_
11–20 of 33 posts
Re: Review of _Bullshit Jobs_
#12I heard a radio interview by the author a few days ago. An interesting bullshit job he described is the ‘duct taper’ in software engineering. Basically those who take existing software and tape it all together as something new. I see the same behaviour everyday in the hardware industry and passed off as innovation. Edit: you can read more about the idea here. https://books.google.ie/books?id=Lsc8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT75&lpg=…
Other 'bullshit jobs' including making trains and toasters and ladders by taking existing components like nuts and bolts and simply welding them together.
I've always wanted to like David Graeber. Superficially, he seems like a smart, rigorous, heterodox left-wing thinker. But his work is intellectually bankrupt more often than not. Brad DeLong has been doing the hard work of breaking down Graeber's facile arguments and incorrect information for years. Here's one blog post to look at if you're curious. http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2014/11/monday-smackdown-in-th...
Re: Review of _Bullshit Jobs_
#13I heard a radio interview by the author a few days ago. An interesting bullshit job he described is the ‘duct taper’ in software engineering. Basically those who take existing software and tape it all together as something new. I see the same behaviour everyday in the hardware industry and passed off as innovation. Edit: you can read more about the idea here. https://books.google.ie/books?id=Lsc8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT75&lpg=…
> An interesting bullshit job he described is the ‘duct taper’ in software engineering. Basically those who take existing software and tape it all together as something new. Taking existing components and building something new by combining them? What on earth is wrong with that? That's great software engineering if it's possible to do for what you need.
Or a chemist who uses exiting molecules. The musician who uses existing notes.
Re: Review of _Bullshit Jobs_
#14Link to the original essay: https://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/
Re: Review of _Bullshit Jobs_
#15I heard a radio interview by the author a few days ago. An interesting bullshit job he described is the ‘duct taper’ in software engineering. Basically those who take existing software and tape it all together as something new. I see the same behaviour everyday in the hardware industry and passed off as innovation. Edit: you can read more about the idea here. https://books.google.ie/books?id=Lsc8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT75&lpg=…
what a completely weird criteria for a 'bullshit' job, and one that's also totally at odds with the stuff described in OP's article.
Re: Review of _Bullshit Jobs_
#16I heard a radio interview by the author a few days ago. An interesting bullshit job he described is the ‘duct taper’ in software engineering. Basically those who take existing software and tape it all together as something new. I see the same behaviour everyday in the hardware industry and passed off as innovation. Edit: you can read more about the idea here. https://books.google.ie/books?id=Lsc8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT75&lpg=…
Some call them "Taco Bell Programmers" as in take the same 6 ingredients and mix them up slightly differently and give the result a new name.
I used this with a recruiter in South Florida a few years ago and it started popping up in listings...
Re: Review of _Bullshit Jobs_
#17I heard a radio interview by the author a few days ago. An interesting bullshit job he described is the ‘duct taper’ in software engineering. Basically those who take existing software and tape it all together as something new. I see the same behaviour everyday in the hardware industry and passed off as innovation. Edit: you can read more about the idea here. https://books.google.ie/books?id=Lsc8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT75&lpg=…
"Basically those who take existing software and tape it all together as something new."
You mean like in electronics?
Re: Review of _Bullshit Jobs_
#18I heard a radio interview by the author a few days ago. An interesting bullshit job he described is the ‘duct taper’ in software engineering. Basically those who take existing software and tape it all together as something new. I see the same behaviour everyday in the hardware industry and passed off as innovation. Edit: you can read more about the idea here. https://books.google.ie/books?id=Lsc8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT75&lpg=…
Some call them "Taco Bell Programmers" as in take the same 6 ingredients and mix them up slightly differently and give the result a new name. I used this with a recruiter in South Florida a few years ago and it started popping up in listings...
ha, sounds like there's demand then... while not technically interesting, burrito assembly is still economically useful :)
Re: Review of _Bullshit Jobs_
#19I heard a radio interview by the author a few days ago. An interesting bullshit job he described is the ‘duct taper’ in software engineering. Basically those who take existing software and tape it all together as something new. I see the same behaviour everyday in the hardware industry and passed off as innovation. Edit: you can read more about the idea here. https://books.google.ie/books?id=Lsc8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT75&lpg=…
That’s all software engineering these days.
Re: Review of _Bullshit Jobs_
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
> An interesting bullshit job he described is the ‘duct taper’ in software engineering. Basically those who take existing software and tape it all together as something new. Taking existing components and building something new by combining them? What on earth is wrong with that? That's great software engineering if it's possible to do for what you need.
Or a chemist who uses exiting molecules. The musician who uses existing notes.
People have no idea how much of their favorite music is built on the same handful of chord progressions. And it's fine because the real magic is in the notes you lay on it, the sound design, the way the different instruments work together.