Technology hits a midlife bump
Title of a piece in the NY Times today which relates software in general to the telegraph, electricity, the internal combustion engine.. "ordinary factors of production". hmm.. those things maybe "ordinary" as the writer says, but those are the things that make this world work and they all continue to create tremendous wealth. We should never take for granted the pioneers that built all this for the good of mankind. I designed internal combustion engines for a living at one time, and I never once took them for granted or considered them ordinary. As an engineer, I was always inspired by our human capabilities to bend the forces of nature.
The article makes it sound like the end of software as being interesting or an area only the big cos can prosper in. He even starts the piece with mention of a company that specializes in closing down companies. I guess this is interesting for selling newspapers. One stark difference between sw and these older industries. Software remains, and will always be something that anyone that cares enough can build for low cost, and creates lots of value as a result. Building auto companies, power distribution companies, etc, will always have major economic barriers. This is what attracts me to software and always has. The internet has only sweetened the deal, cause now, anyone can use software I develop. My challenge is only to find problems to solve, and build a company that executes well and satisfies the heck out of the customer.
Why don't papers praise the power and benefits software has and continues to provide? The writer probably submitted his article using free Yahoo email, which is likely hosted on open source Apache and Tomcat server, etc. The smart ones amongst us will continue to use these great tools to bring value in new ways. And better yet, good customer service will never go out of style and smart software entrepreneurs with this sensitivity will continue to see success.
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