Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I am retiring from tech to live offline

openpath.quest

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

351–360 of 617 posts

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#351

Post by latkin »

fontain wrote: post #333
latkin wrote: post #320

This whole thing is eye-searingly performative. Whether or not he follows through and goes dark after this, this farewell is just so ridiculous. Claims to have not used the internet or a phone since February, does all communication via USPS, declares that AI and social media make him hate himself... But somehow is continuing to post on Bluesky, continuing to update his blog, continuing to post YouTube videos, continu…

Your cynicism is misplaced, Chad has been a fixture on HN for well over a decade. He said he has been offline in his personal life since February, not his professional life. His BlueSky is professional. He quit his job and will be offline completely following the handover.

> His BlueSky is professional.

It's plainly not.

https://bsky.app/profile/chadwhitacre.com/post/3mmvzmugfqk2g "my good friend Dana could really use some help paying for major dental work. "

His latest YouTube post, from 2 weeks after the alleged go-dark date, is also all about his personal plan to walk away from tech. Needed to make sure there is a GoPro in his face while he talks about how low-tech he yearns to be. Needs to make sure everyone on the internet sees HD digital footage of him tapping on a typewriter, carving a stamp by hand, and switching to paper bank statements.

> Your cynicism is misplaced, Chad has been a fixture on HN for well over a decade

I don't doubt it. I also don't doubt the claims in other comments that he has made incredible contributions to open source, is a good, kind person, and so forth. He deserves immense credit for these things.

None of that negates the fact that this is an incredibly performative and hypocritical way to make this particular transition. Defending it by pointing out his other virtues is just a reverse ad hominem.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#352

Post by siren2026 »

GloriousKoji wrote: post #327
siren2026 wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is surely a spectrum between small apartment with asbestos and 5m$ house. I read on HN all the time that once you have kid it is unavoidable to spend 300k$ a year. But yet 99.9% of the world and the US manages to raise kids with a fraction of that income and they turn out mostly fine. (Before you ask, yes I have kids and yes we still live simply)

The mental gymnastics I've seen kids enable is Olympic level. Need to upgrade to a bigger house, need to upgrade the car to a SUV, need keep traveling 2-3 times a year, need to sign up for some crazy sports league and coach which means domestic flights and hotels every other week.

Have seen that as well. Kids is the convenient excuse to go spending. Marketers have well understood that for multiple decades.

Meanwhile I would bet there is an inverse correlation between spending for the kids and kids happiness.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#353

Post by tananan »

kokanee wrote: post #317
siren2026 wrote: post #237

I have been at it for 20 years now and have started to feel my time is up as well As a lot of comments here highlights, the issue is not so much the tech but the politics, constant perf reviews, re-orgs, nonsense BS that is pushed top-down. This industry is taking a toll on you. My advice for anyone reading this that is starting your career: Live simply and save a lot. When I started my career I thought I would love…

I would take this advice a bit further even -- I don't think savings alone is the key, because inflation and de-dollarization are exponentially eroding purchasing power. The key is ownership of income-producing assets. In late-stage capitalism, the vast majority of people who work in exchange for wages will be members of the debt class; workers who manage to escape debt will still be living on a knife's edge where yo…

A society where the only people with stability are those who parasitize on a increasingly emaciated wealth-producing population surely doesn't seem like a stable society, nor one that would be pleasant to live in.

There's no true stability in the world, but if the only option for "safety" we see is to be one of the few who snatch self-perpetuating generational wealth, aren't we just speeding up the unraveling of the very system off of which we desire to subsist on?

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#354

Post by junon »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #15
kamaitachi wrote: post #7

I just retired after 40 years writing code. The last year or so wasn’t fun - battling with AI, trying to get it do what I wanted. For a long time, I thought I’d do a lot of hobby or open source coding when I retired. I haven’t even tried. I’m not burned out, but find I’ve lost the passion for coding I once had. Is that AI? Or is it me? Maybe as my retirement progresses, I can rekindle that passion, but as of now, I d…

I retired, after 30-some years. Actually, I was forced to retire, by folks that don't think us greyheads should be working. Fortunately, I had the means to retire. Those means had nothing to do with a FIRE strategy. I just saved, lived humbly, and stayed at a job for a couple of decades. But I have been doubling down on my tech work. Once the knuckleheads were removed from the soup, the flavor improved markedly. I lo…

Man as a not (yet) greybeard, I wish we had more of them in the teams I've been on in the last ~10 years.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#355

Post by Rover222 »

sph wrote: post #346
Rover222 wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there are in fact plenty of ways to earn enough money to get by on a simple lifestyle

People in tech, especially from US, are so accustomed to spending $5,000/mo just to survive, that they cannot fathom one is able to live without having a tech job in San Francisco. It's a pretty sad state of affairs. I live in a first-world European country where the average salary is about €25,000 per year. My mortgage estimate is less than €300/mo. I'm not that afraid of having to supplement my income if I need to.…

Yeah, I was just living off $1k/month in Brazil just to see if it was possible. It definitely is. And was in a beautiful, safe area.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#356

Post by switchbak »

drivebyhooting wrote: post #298
siren2026 wrote: post #237

I have been at it for 20 years now and have started to feel my time is up as well As a lot of comments here highlights, the issue is not so much the tech but the politics, constant perf reviews, re-orgs, nonsense BS that is pushed top-down. This industry is taking a toll on you. My advice for anyone reading this that is starting your career: Live simply and save a lot. When I started my career I thought I would love…

I could and did live frugally before I had kids. How can one continue living in a small apartment with lead and asbestos hazards is beyond me.

Many of the homes in the world were built when lead and/or asbestos were in use. Asbestos isn't much of a concern if you don't disturb it - don't let your kids play in the attic or tear out the drywall, and you should be fine. Don't let them lick the paint, and you're probably good. Or paint over it / get it remediated - it doesn't have to be a deal killer.

I certainly agree that it'd be hard to have kids in a small space though, I definitely appreciate having more room - especially with a WFH setup.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#357

Post by [deleted] »

fontain wrote: post #333
latkin wrote: post #320

This whole thing is eye-searingly performative. Whether or not he follows through and goes dark after this, this farewell is just so ridiculous. Claims to have not used the internet or a phone since February, does all communication via USPS, declares that AI and social media make him hate himself... But somehow is continuing to post on Bluesky, continuing to update his blog, continuing to post YouTube videos, continu…

Your cynicism is misplaced, Chad has been a fixture on HN for well over a decade. He said he has been offline in his personal life since February, not his professional life. His BlueSky is professional. He quit his job and will be offline completely following the handover.

[deleted]

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#358

Post by Culiper »

senderista wrote: post #339
Culiper wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should read the book "Walden". The guy is also leaves society to live closer to nature for more or less similar reasons. But then in 1845.

It's good to keep in mind while reading Walden that Thoreau was basically a trust fund baby.

Yeah I know, and his mom did his dirty laundry. Still a comfy read!

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#359

Post by dmje »

switchbak wrote: post #344
throwfaraway4 wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've worked in food service, landscaping and factory jobs. You're right, the tech job does feel super cushy after gigs like that. But I'm about 25 years in on the tech industry now and I feel the same GP. At some point, you can't avoid the politics and corp BS and it wears you down. Everything is relative. Now that I have the means to say "I don't have to or want to do this anymore" I'll be checking out after this ye…

You also don't need the politics and corp bs. I worked as a contractor for tiny little orgs doing good things for ~11 years - basically 2-5 people, almost no BS, good money, tons of time flexibility. I shifted away to get more predictability and less accounting/biz management stuff. Maybe the party has ended, but I bet there's still some ability to freelance for small orgs? Alternatively working for small yet sustain…

15 years in running a tiny micro agency (me and my wife), working with non profits. Still looking ok right now, and I still love it and my clients who are ace. I’m mainly a PM though with hacker-developer tendencies. Hoping my sector hold together for another 10 years. I’m 53 so that’ll do it. We’ve been relatively sensible over the years, good work / life balance and our children (now adult and left home) know who we are. So that’s the main job done :-)

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#360

Post by patcon »

latkin wrote: post #320

This whole thing is eye-searingly performative. Whether or not he follows through and goes dark after this, this farewell is just so ridiculous. Claims to have not used the internet or a phone since February, does all communication via USPS, declares that AI and social media make him hate himself... But somehow is continuing to post on Bluesky, continuing to update his blog, continuing to post YouTube videos, continu…

Chad is one of the most high-integrity persons I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. He is not fucking around for clicks in any shallow sense. I agree with the sibling comment that your cynicism is deeply misplaced imho.

I mean, you can be cynical for whatever reasons, but I just think you'd be assuming (and participating in and perpetuating) a game Chad isn't playing.

Post reply on HN