
Software developers describing their work in 1973 [video] - velmu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxSdWhkMB_A&feature=youtu.be
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pcunite
[https://youtu.be/AxSdWhkMB_A?t=3m55s](https://youtu.be/AxSdWhkMB_A?t=3m55s)

"Q: What are the cons of your profession? A: Almost every application that is
being made ends up lagging in schedule, regrettably."

~~~
smtddr
The more things change, the more they stay the same :)

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msarnoff
The video was posted by an awesome demoscene dude named viznut. Check out the
rest of his channel.

Experimental music from very short C programs:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtQdIYUtAHg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtQdIYUtAHg)

Robotic Liberation (VIC-20 demo):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SdGkkp1aq8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SdGkkp1aq8)

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madflame991
"Almost every application that is being made ends up lagging in schedule,
regrettably"

I'm grateful, of course, for the technological progresses we've made since
'73, but how come this is still an issue?

~~~
laotzu
Because the high level business model remains the same. Seeking perpetually
increasing short term profitability instead of long term sustainability.
Carrot on a stick.

~~~
oldmanjay
This is such a popular misconception amongst the nerd set. Perhaps because
there's a great us v. them narrative implicit in it. I suspect what initially
birthed it was a basic misapprehension common to people who have great faith
in their own intelligence and opinions - that of needing to ascribe stupidity
to people who don't seem to share viewpoints.

I won't bother citing because it's literally overwhelming, but it's pretty
clear that there are many companies producing software with the long-term view
in mind, and I bet every single one of them is subject to schedule issues.

I've certainly been on teams with long-term thinking embedded in the process
and spent time explaining delays, which is of course merely an anecdote, but
rather suggestive of things not being as black and white as you'd like to
present them.

edit: minor wording cleanups

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nebulous1
Bret the Hitman Hart gave some insight into the games industry in the 90s:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfdIGG36GgU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfdIGG36GgU)

~~~
kolanos
Hearing a wrestler say "you dereferenced a null pointer" made my day.

~~~
OJFord
(1:40)

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johansch
Because he's finnish it reminds me of this 1993 video of Future Crew making
the PC demo "Second Reality":

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIIBRr31DIU?cc_load_policy=1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIIBRr31DIU?cc_load_policy=1)

(There's high quality english subtitles there.)

Finished product:

[http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=63](http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=63)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFv7mHTf0nA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFv7mHTf0nA)

------
sosuke
"at least two natural languages"

I'm half that good!

It seems like our profession hasn't changed much at all. Makes me feel like
I'll be well prepared for the workplace 40 years in the future.

~~~
newjersey
My favorite part was when he answered he has a high school diploma. He
mentions he has five years in university but all you really need is a high
school diploma.

As someone who spent five and a half years (first four for a BS mathematics
degree and a year and half for BS computer science degree) as an undergraduate
student, it makes me happy to hear professionals say that.

K-12 school is just as important as ever. I just wish we started second
language instruction at lower grades. It could be Spanish, French, German,
Mandarin... It'd be nice if we started much earlier.

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drzaiusapelord
"A negative side is that the work is extremely tiresome, and there are
pressure problems all the time. Mental health problems are well known in this
business."

Is he suggesting this work is the cause of mental health issues? Seems to me
almost every techie I know has below average mental health. Chicken-egg
problem here.

~~~
settings
I took that as his implication. In my experience there is also selection bias.

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flurpitude
Too much pressure, too many meetings, projects coming in behind schedule. Must
have been awful in those days.

Do all those people look like they actually hate their jobs, or is this just a
Finnish manner?

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edpichler
This video is incredible!

Many years later, and we are still struggling to solve the same software
engineering problems, per example, project delays.

The video also shows that, in 1973, the requirements changed all the time.
People had a lot of meetings, and they think that programming is a lot about
teamwork and collaboration. Requirements analysis, before it had this name.

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lordnacho
The guy makes it sound like he's just making whatever the designer tells him,
like a robot.

In reality there's a lot of back-and-forth. This is easy, this is hard, this
is impossible, we should reorganize this or that, some development path
requires more investigation, etc.

If I was a kid watching this I'd conclude it was stressful and subservient.

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y04nn
Things seems to not have changed so much. We spend more time designing and
planing things that it takes to implement them.

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khoury
Oh god... just as depressing as it is today.

