61–69 of 69 posts
For most applications you write it's necessary to be aware of the fact that people like yourself aren't the people mostly using the application.
Then you gave up the greatest influence you could have.
The author fails to note the "butterfly effect" where a small but worthwhile improvement in a development tool could be the key to doing something "really important" ... and raising a child to not just do a single limited task but to engage in a lifetime of helping others - even if by "just" writing marginally improved development tools - can in turn have a huge impact.
As others note, the author's sort of guilt-trip opining serves to tear down people who are doing good for the world. The luxury of early cell phones has translated into a race to bringing cheap ubiquitous computing to the world, what was then multimilliondollar building-filling supercomputers to everyone's pockets, $25 Raspberry Pis to any student who wants one, and the laudable OLPC practically becoming a moot point thanks to wireless low-power computing proliferation.
And among other unexpected consequences to my "extremely privileged life", I'm able to acquire cubic yards of artisan bread and distribute it weekly to the underprivileged/poor/needy - in no small part thanks to me having time to spare, and to include my kids in so they will grow up caring for those not so blessed.
"Strange how much human progress and achievement comes from contemplation of the irrelevant." - Scott Kim
The point that developers tend to live an extremely privileged life compared to the human average is an excellent one. However, I must strenuously object to the characterization of building tools for other developers as simply being self-pleasure. If developers really can do good things for society, then by helping other developers, am I not helping to achieve that goal? If software is useful, and I build something t…
You're right. However, there comes a point where we don't need yet another framework, or productivity app, or another project management tool. I also think the author is addressing people who build "thin value" startups as well, not just developer tools. Like Color, or Farmville, or Diaspora.
While the article is a nice and up-stirring read, I have to play devil's advocate here and ask: So how many lives have garbagemen changed in the way OP talks about? How much impact do workers in a steel mill have? What about other simple but very common (and very necessary) jobs like the building maintenance and cleaning? There are a lot of jobs out there that do not really directly advance society or change human li…
> So how many lives have garbagemen changed in the way OP talks about? Let's start with yours. Have you ever been in a city (e.g., New York) that was experiencing a sanitation worker strike? Garbage-men are easily some of the most important people in a modern society. The guys that empty my building's dumpster change the lives of hundreds of people every day. I can think of quite a few scientists and doctors who woul…
And I absolutely agree with your last paragraph. Too many places they are still being looked down upon...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
etc includes big govt folks too. Since they're both more numerous and more powerful than enfironmentalists. However, I don't see the atheist connection. Yes, some atheists are big govt types, sure, some do, but "sacrifice for the stranger because ..." doesn't seem to be an essentially atheist characteristic.
I think the point is that sometimes atheists are more influenced by ideas that come from religion than they realize
God says... C:\LoseThos\www.losethos.com\text\DARWIN.TXT
ess long continued, had been rendered highly attractive to insects, they would, unintentionally on their part, regularly carry pollen from flower to flower; and that they do this effectually I could easily show by many striking facts. I will give only one, as likewise illustrating one step in the separation of the sexes of plants. Some holly-trees bear only male flowers, which have four stamens producing a rather small quantity of pollen, and a rudimentary pistil; other holly-trees bear only femal
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really. Most movies and sports aren't carefully crafted to induce psychological addiction like many Zynga games are. Zynga will actually make games less fun and less relaxing if there's some set of people who will be driven to play more (even if they don't seem to be enjoying it much) because of the changes.
Is Zynga different in this regard? They design their product so that people want to keep playing it , in the same way that a TV serial will end an episode on a cliffhanger in order to get you to watch the next one. Sports also encourage you to emotionally invest yourself in a particular team and create long term stories (leagues etc) so that you will continue spending money.
The point that developers tend to live an extremely privileged life compared to the human average is an excellent one. However, I must strenuously object to the characterization of building tools for other developers as simply being self-pleasure. If developers really can do good things for society, then by helping other developers, am I not helping to achieve that goal? If software is useful, and I build something t…