In the mid 80s I had shortly this impression that computer science and programming now are mostly done. It was when I had read the books (blue, green, orange and purple http://www.world.st/learn/books ) on Smalltalk 80. OOP, large class library, UI, ... All done. What would be needed more?
You Are Not Late
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#12[deleted]
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#13I always try to tell myself this. At the end of the day, I still think it partly still has to do with "luck". Who knew bitcoins could explode? Just strive now to find the next big thing is all we can do...
Re: You Are Not Late
#14Turing award winner John Hopcroft[1] has a similar message about the future of computer science research[1]. He talks about how a lot of early CS research was to make Computer Science useful by focusing on languages and algorithms but how the focus is and will be changing.
Pretty cool topics like sparse vectors, zero-knowledge proofs and social networks with applications in biology and digital medical records.
[1]http://www.heidelberg-laureate-forum.org/blog/video/lecture-...
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#15[deleted]
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#16The thing about "late" is really "I wish I had seen that". But even if I had travelled back in time and left myself a note about Facebook I still am very unlikely to have built a billion dollar company - because I don have that brain / personality of Zuckerberg or Musk or Bezos or ...
So I do regret many turnings I did not take, but only because of a misguided hope that a turning would have made me a different person to the one I am. I was building an email to web page maker long before twitter, but I am still working for a living.
I need to learn how to build a company online by building a company online - and learn to accept my personality for itself.
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#17I've been too early a few times. I was working on secure operating systems in the late 1970s. Proof of correctness in the early 1980s. My major work on the Internet was in the early 1980s. I was working on robotics in the 1980s, and legged robots in the 1990s. I was working on automatic driving in 2003-2005. I figured out how to stop search spam in the 2000s. I have issued patents and published papers on most of this…
Might have to print this out and paste on a wall in the office. Awesome Unfortunately, a lot of young kids are wired to look for the next Yo and or spend their energy and talents on things that don't really matter. It's crazy out there - the whole "make an app, get users and cash out quickly" mindset. It's very bad and is a major reason why we see so many crap companies and apps launching all the time. But this won't…
Isn't it better to solve tough niche problems while being on a salary or already rich and experienced instead of adding that to an already hard problem of starting up a business?
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#18If only I had the benefit of the perspective that a "2044 greybeard" presumably will have.
At least don't write the code in an assembly of your times :).
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#19Adding to this, for every new app, there are three new apps you can spin out of it. Take AirBnb, now there are dozens of AirBnb for X models. Uber? Dozens of Uber for Xs as well. AirBnb for boats, office spaces, parking lots. They all worked.
You could start an AirBnb for X RIGHT NOW. :)
Re: You Are Not Late
#20That post was published by Kevin Kelly too on Medium a few days sooner. I wonder why he published it first there :o https://medium.com/message/you-are-not-late-b3d76f963142
I knew I had read this article before, but couldn't remember where. Thanks.