The computer industry sucks.
Internet time my scrawny ass. More like ridiculous expectations of commitment for ridiculous money. So that makes it ok, right? "That's why bob makes the big bucks", apparantly because Bob is well on his way to developing
CTS,
internet-induced addiction/paranoia, and possibly an
everything complex. Yet Bob sure does bring home the bacon. Bob's a provider, if only for Bob.
Bob, and myself, are generally middle class nerds, chasing a carrot that is forever stretching into infinity. The computer industry still has elegance and frontiers, but we have stratified in the way we choose to develop software and hardware, towards these ends. "Work constantly" is the only mantra, and if you don't, then you are a slacker.
Yet the strangest damn thing is that the mantra works. It is possible, though barely, to work constantly and make something unique. But the problem is is that when you get done with that something, there is another something to make. So we start developing exit strategies, or counter balance methods.
Drinking, drugs, mountain climbing, obsessive overspending, disco, whathaveyou. The computer industry is happily funding a vast array of adventure sports that serve to attempt to keep the 24/7'ers somewhat together. So we all win..
:
But it begs the question: will the computer industry last with this type of requirement to commitment? Can we, the programmers and content providers and sysadmins survive 10 more years of this? it seems to be picking up speed, as more and more peers get absorbed.
I never expected my work ethic to support this kind of thing.. Who in their right mind would? There is a love of technology, but, friend, self-preservation should be stronger.
Hell, I don't know. I have spent in excess of 80 or 90 hours this week programming. Programming until I fell asleep, fully clothed, then crawled out of bed to the sound of a fellow programmers question a few hours later, and then back in the chair. loop while(1) .There is simultaneously a feeling of intense no bullshit about the whole thing that sort of makes it ok, but a nagging doubt at the back of my mind that this is fucking ridiculous. How many lines does this program have? 250,000? How many days have I worked on it? 200+? How can that BE? I need 48 hours days, speed and a certain amount of luck.
2501. that is why you are a nerd, and I say that in the best possible sense. Obviously we are all greedy, this is america. dosen't it bother you?