11–20 of 31 posts
What can we learn that we can apply to technology in general? I feel like "programmers" and "IT" tend to be undervalued while Data Science tends to be accurately or even overvalued.
Data Science and "Big Data" have done a really good job of marketing themselves. As a result, people recognize that these roles are valuable, Data Scientists get paid & treated well, and it tends to work out well for everyone. What can we learn that we can apply to technology in general? I feel like "programmers" and "IT" tend to be undervalued while Data Science tends to be accurately or even overvalued.
Given that Data Scientist is just a sexier rephrasing of Analyst, my suggestion would be to retitle Programmers as Computational Engineers. Or use Lisp.
Bullshit. "Big Data" and "Data Scientist" are the latest buzzwords like Web 2.0 and Java were during their ORA hype-r eras. There is a lot more data. There are a lot more tools and technology to deal with data. There is a need for high quality people that understand how to handle data. But there are no rockstars, there are people that have passion and spent years learning and teaching their craft. But they aren't roc…
Technology at a basic level amplifies agency, certain techniques and their resultant technologies have benefited individuals and citizens more than State agencies and with others it's been the inverse. I think we are moving into an stage where there is potential for massive recentralisation of control in various domains.
But this is HN, not a political discussion forum, most of the 'frighteningly ambitious ideas' to grace these pages are to do with pushing out more ads or other such pablum. PG isn't a philanthropist and YC isn't a charitable foundation; HN is naturally aligned with those objectives.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_statistics#Etymolog...
But I think it's important to not underestimate the shift that has been happening. The race to automate tasks has always been accelerating, but it hit an inflection point a few years ago when mainstream business people realized what current technology can achieve. Pretty much every industry I've seen has been or can be drastically transformed by better data management and predictive analytics.
It's going to affect all of us, so I think it's worth following closely.
Please, let the term "rock star" die.
Slippery slope though. We might need to throw in ninja, craftsman, hipster, and guru while we're at it, too.
how about we just use the oh so boring "professional" instead? i want respect from society for my work, not a cute pet title co-opted from other industries, where they can use these terms with a straight face and without rolled eyes from the audience.
But who are the new ninjas?