
A Brief History of Dangerous Ideas - raganwald
http://weblog.raganwald.com/2008/07/brief-history-of-dangerous-ideas.html
======
sofal
This is the first time that I've had a sinking feeling inside when somebody
announces the end of their blog.

Reg, you said things that resonated with me in ways that I couldn't say them.
Your blog had top priority in my reading list. I almost feel like a kid
learning how to ride a bike and suddenly realizing that my dad has let go of
me. There will be a hole in my information stream that can't be replaced.

Thank you for the insights, humor, and powerful reasoning.

~~~
raganwald
Thanks, although--to be very frank--I'd rather be the kid that introduced you
to skateboarding or your weird cousing that listens to a lot of Jazz music :-)

------
nuclear_eclipse
Reginald, I will greatly miss reading your insights. I may not be a Ruby
developer, but your feed has been one of my favorites ever since I discovered
it.

Good luck being dangerous.

------
sspencer
Make something people want? The hell with that.

Make something DANGEROUS.

You will be missed, Reginald. Great blog.

~~~
raganwald
Once again I see I could have expressed myself far more succinctly. Make
something dangerous will be on my new tee shirts :-)

~~~
nuclear_eclipse
Can I have one too?

------
damon
I was thinking "another solid post from reg". Then boom, didn't see that
coming. It's too bad it will be his last. Looking forward to seeing what's
next. Keep us posted, Reg.

------
ckinnan
Raganwald, your history is backwards. The simple longbow was successfully used
by English peasants with decisive, history-changing result against French
knighted nobility at Agincourt and Crecy.

<http://www.stortford-archers.org.uk/medieval.htm>

~~~
raganwald
My suggestion (borrowed from the linked essay) is that figuring out how to put
peasants to work killing knights is not dangerous, it's just a way to shuffle
which nobles win the battle.

The dangerous thing is when peasants can kill knights all by themselves,
without anyone leading them or organizing them or training them. Rather than
England vs. France, you are suddenly looking at Monarchy vs. Republic.

~~~
ckinnan
Or Monarchy vs. The Reign of Terror!

Anyway, I neglected to add my regrets that you are leaving blogging. I hope
you'll change your mind as you figure out the next big subversive thing and at
least clue us all in. Best of luck!

------
gills
While not a Ruby hacker, I've enjoyed reading your posts as well. I hope that,
when you do pursue something dangerous, you will write about that as well.

------
avinashv
Wow, that's upsetting. Midway through the article, I decided to subscribe
there and then. The outro was quite the kick to the crotch.

@Reginald: Thanks for what I am sure will be a great set of archives to dig
through if this post is any indication.

------
tx
Raganwald, your writing kicks ass. I wish I've mastered this language well
enough to disagree with some of your points [regarding obsolesce of VCs]
properly.

Have fun in August!

------
iamwil
whew, I'm sad to hear you go, but at the same time, moving on to other topics
isn't a bad thing. We all grow, one way or another. I hope that if you end up
discovering a dangerous idea to talk about or explore, you'll start blogging
about it and let us know. til then.

------
stcredzero
Hmm, why is the iPod/iPhone counted as only one idea? There's a lot of strong
arguments for counting them as two. Especially interesting since the number
comparison is made to Miles Davis who is said to have 5 ideas.

~~~
raganwald
take your pick:

1\. iPod Touch/iPhone is like a Macintosh, only smaller; 2\. iPod Touch/iPhone
is like an iPod, only more sophisticated; 3\. iPod Touch/iPhone has something
in common with a Macintosh and an iPod, but it is its own device in its own
category, it transcends its parents.

If you go with #3, it deserves its own number.

I had to leave a lot of ranting out, but if you're looking for more material,
I actually consider iTunes to be the strongest candidate for another Jobs-led
hit. It is dangerous in its own right, and the music industry seems to hate it
almost as much as they hated the "rip. mix. burn." ads for iMacs.

~~~
stcredzero
In that case, I think you really need to give at least "the tie" to Steve. Not
only does #3 sound the best, but you just argued him another point for iTunes.

~~~
raganwald
Please help yourself:

[http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/cut-and-paste-one-line-of-code-
to...](http://www.blogstorm.co.uk/cut-and-paste-one-line-of-code-to-make-any-
website-editable/)

~~~
stcredzero
Just because you're being subtle doesn't make you any less rude.

Perhaps a better argument against: Are all dangerous ideas of equal value? How
would you compare a reinvention of Jazz with iTunes? (A more polished and
legal replacement of the original Napster.)

Ah, I see now. You meant the score as just a tongue in cheek thing.

~~~
raganwald
I absolutely meant the score as a tongue-in-cheek thing, which is why I tried
to keep my response to you in the same spirit. I had no intention to offend!

Outside of having a laugh--supposedly at Steve's expense--I wouldn't try to
compare the two men in any serious way.

------
wastedbrains
Reg I will miss your posts, you were one of the developers out there that
constantly challenged and inspired me to be a better programmer. Your thoughts
and explanations will be missed.

------
dhotson
Fantastic post Reg. Insightful as always.

I hope you'll still hang out here. You're one of the people that make this
site great. :)

------
schtog
Please don't take down the homepage. I love your blogs and plan to read them
all finally but it will take some time.

------
wallflower
Reginald, consider pontificating online about your new
hobbies/passions/dangerous ideas (wreck diving et al)?

~~~
raganwald
I've been climbing for a good long time and diving for a few years. There
honestly isn't much to tell, it has always felt like a terrible stretch to try
to compare programming to one of my hobbies. Whenever I do it, I always ask
myself, "how is this simile different from comparing programming to building a
bridge?" And then I delete it all and start over.

I don't have a great dangerous idea, but to use a more folksy analogy, I want
to be a Jedi that builds his own lightsabre, but not a lightsabre technician.

~~~
andreyf
_I don't have a great dangerous idea, but to use a more folksy analogy, I want
to be a Jedi that builds his own lightsabre, but not a lightsabre technician._

Great ideas are not had alone, though! Why not blog about "lightsabre
building", and work off the community feedback?

~~~
palish
Or about a lightsabre building. It would be the most dangerous building on the
planet.

------
richcollins
I was hoping that e-gold would subvert the status quo.

Looks like I will have to keep waiting:

[http://stakeventures.com/articles/2008/07/22/the-man-
finally...](http://stakeventures.com/articles/2008/07/22/the-man-finally-
brought-e-gold-down)

------
alaskamiller
Paradigm shift. Market disruptor.

~~~
iron_ball
Reg's phrasing was more exciting and romantic, but yes, that's exactly what
he's talking about...

