
Mayor Bloomberg Will Learn How To Write Code In 2012 - edavis
http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/mayor-bloomberg-will-learn-how-to-write-code-in-2012.php
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rayiner
Note the interesting bit about the London mayor: "The move even prompted
London Mayor Boris Johnson to state he was in “awe” of Bloomberg and would
consider joining him on the quest to become adept at, or at least acquainted
with, programming, as the BBC reported."

This is a great thing for Bloomberg to do. In an age where so many politicians
are trying as hard as they can to stifle the new economy in favor of the old
economy, the major of a city with a GDP bigger than that of 47 other states
paying such public attention to the tech industry is a great step in moving
our politics forward.

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GFKjunior
He's not new to the tech field. He graduated with a degree in Electrical
Engineering from Johns Hopkins.

Bloomberg's most famous product is probably the Bloomberg Terminal. A dual
screen computer and OS for hedge fund manager types, that costs $1900-2500 a
month per subscription.

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raldi
It stopped being its own OS long ago. Now the dual-screen computer is a
standard Windows PC with a pretty case and fancy keyboard, and the terminal
software is just a win32 .exe.

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sopooneo
Why do they even bother with special hardware? The keyboard I guess I can see.

Seems like the whole thing could just be web app now.

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robert00700
This is definitely true, the tech Bloomberg uses was novel in the 80s, but the
functionality of a modern browser now outstrips that of the terminal program.
There's actually some functions in the Bloomberg Terminal these days which
just fire up an embedded browser to render the content!

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apaprocki
There are many things a browser can do just fine, but there are also many
things that the terminal needs to do that would be difficult to do memory or
CPU wise without resorting to plugins. Certain things in the terminal use an
embedded browser (e.g., displaying company web pages), but almost no terminal
apps are written as web pages. (Products such as BLAW, BGOV, etc. are native
web apps)

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cellis
Bloomberg was already highly technical once before. Listen to his Techcrunch
interview where he talks about having to solder integrated circuits onto
boards to build the first Bloomberg terminals. He's not just another clueless
MBA CEO.

[http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/28/founder-stories-how-
michael...](http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/28/founder-stories-how-michael-
bloomberg-got-his-start-i-brought-you-a-cup-of-coffee/)

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slug
His book "Bloomberg by Bloomberg" is also a good read. I also find it amusing
this even made the news. His billion-dollar fortune comes from a tech company
founded with money he got as severance after being fired from a previous tech
management position, albeit in the finance sector.

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jes5199
Well, is writing code the new literacy? Most people in the west can read and
write at some level, even if they never write a novel. The future might be
like that with code - there are signs of it, where knowing how to write a
little script or a SQL query can make a huge difference in plenty of different
fields

~~~
simondlr
This is an interesting point and one I haven't thought of like this. The past
year, I kept telling people to start learning to program, because there will
be an unprecedented increase in demand for programmers and knowing how to
program (even just a little bit) will be greatly beneficial no matter in what
line of life you are in.

But can it come to the point where if you can't code, you get left behind? It
might not be so farfetched.

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candre717
Or, the more people who can code, the less valuable the skill? Meh, or not.

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rsolari
Maybe it's not supply & demand, but a network effect:

For reading, I would argue the ability to read become _more_ valuable as the
literacy rate increases, as society starts to run on the written word.

Perhaps computer literacy is the same.

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candre717
That's interesting. When would you use a supply & demand model versus network
effects to explain a trend?

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redthrowaway
Good for him, and good for Codecademy. While a largely symbolic gesture, it
can certainly never hurt to have political leaders be at least somewhat
familiar with technology, especially when they're trying to create a new SV. I
hope this is an actual intention and not just an empty PR move. He could,
however, score a massive PR win both for himself and for NYC as a tech center
by taking Codecademy up on their offer and showing up for lessons in person.

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fauigerzigerk
It is a symbolic move, but the interesting thing about it is that this kind of
symbolism wouldn't work in most other places on this planet.

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goatcurious
Agree, and it wouldn't have worked for even New York a couple of years ago.
Right now, one of the biggest advantages for New York startups is the terrific
(& free) PR push from Bloomberg himself. Go Codecademy!

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zds
Thanks!

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kanwisher
Considering his whole business is basically being the tech company for the
finance industry it's surprising he never learned about it.

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aspir
Well, NYC finance is still about dealmaking, even in the days of digital
trading. Business is still done face-to-face, and the sheer density of New
York will probably make sure that deal makers are more valuable than
technologists for the foreseeable future. That's not to discount technologists
in NY at all, though (they're deal makers too). It's just the reality that
handshakes and coffee are irreplaceable.

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kloncks
Speaking of coffee, a lot of his early deals were based on him going around to
Merrill Lynch and buying people there coffee, then coming back later saying
"I'm Michael Bloomberg. I bought you a coffee. Can we talk?"

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GBond
First person to learn how to code AFTER becoming a billionaire?

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zerostar07
I will consider hiring him in 2015

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CPlatypus
So will I, but only if I can check out his code on github and ask him a whole
bunch of puzzle questions first. ;)

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fedd
In 1917 Lenin said that every cook should be able to run a state.

In 2012 a mayor would write code. That's what the mankind achieved.

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shapeshed
How long before the TV series 'Coding with the Stars'?

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joelklabo
why?

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wes-exp
I suppose I should be happy that authority figures are getting in touch with
technology.

That said, I'm pretty sure Bloomberg learning to code marks the peak of the
second tech bubble. That, or Ashton Kutcher becoming a VC.

