
Zuck, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey In Short Film To Inspire Kids To Learn How To Code - aashaykumar92
http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/26/zuck-bill-gates-jack-dorsey-code-org-film/
======
wes-exp
Personally I think the world is drunk with "code fever". We are creatures of
overreaction.

Not too long ago it was "no one learn to code! it's all going to be outsourced
to India!"

Now, "I'm starting a non-profit to spread the gift of coding to children.
Coding is our future".

Give me a f-ing break.

~~~
chaz
I'm still all for it. Coding is a lot more than just filling jobs. It opens
the door to critical thinking, breaking down complex problems into simple
ones, separating correlation and causality, and differentiating between data
vs anecdotes. It's essentially applied STEM education, but with very
practical, tangible outcomes in equipment that nearly everyone will have
access to.

I can't think of a faster, more accessible, more entertaining way to grow
these skills.

~~~
hkmurakami
It is also a very affordable and quick way to "build stuff", which is one of
the strongest ways for children/adolescents to get excited about their "work"

------
aashaykumar92
I think people are shifting away from the point of the video and that's fine,
and I don't mean to be "that" guy, but it is important to realize what these
accomplished programmers are trying to say through the video.

If you listen carefully, most of the interviewees are simply attesting to
Steve Jobs' quote at the beginning: "Everybody in this country should learn
how to program a computer...because it teaches you how to think." The second
part, the ability to think, is a skill that people must have AND use in their
everyday life to be successful in whatever they do. Zuck, Gates, Dorsey,
Houston, etc. are all encouraging people to learn to code for this reason, and
because programming is an extremely empowering skill--not just in one field
but in all...if you want it to be. The fact that programming can be used in
all fields is why there is such a huge push for people to learn. It is a self
and world-empowering tool that is simply being encouraged to be taught/learned
by the incoming generation.

The current generation needs to realize that programming exists everywhere,
just as we are taught that subjects like math, biology, chemistry, physics,
and history are. There is a HUGE distinction between learning to code just for
the sake of getting a job or improving the economy and learning to code
because it can empower us to THINK and then DO. Not to be philosophical, but
part of societies' problems has been always knowing what problems exist, but
not actually doing anything to solve it--until now. Programming, more than
anything, accelerates our ability to solve problems, little or big.

In a world where so many problems exist, programming is many times the means
to achieving the solution. And that is why these successful programmers are
pushing everyone to learn.

~~~
larrys
"Zuck, Gates, Dorsey, Houston, etc. are all encouraging people to learn to
code for this reason"

Certainly the self serving reason for the push can't be overlooked. The more
people that are pushed into coding the more of a chance that
Zuck/Dorsey/Houston can find a superstar to hire.

I'm sure in any industry (medical research as only one example) the people in
that industry would love if more young people took a shining to what they do.
Then they would have more to pick from. Sports works the same way. If you get
a bunch of people interested in football out of the funnel comes some
superstars and you have an entire industry.

~~~
aashaykumar92
I'm not so sure if I agree with the self serving push. I mean sure, these guys
want great engineers--in fact, Zuckerberg explicitly states that.

But also remember that Zuckerberg is now investing in young medical research
and Gates has been a philanthropic investor for a long time--these guys are
looking beyond their companies and show that they truly care about the world
and solving the BIG problems that exist. They are literally world-serving
through these investments.

~~~
crgt
If there's no self interest involved at all how come Objective-C is not on the
list of languages that they're pushing?

~~~
saosebastiao
Because it isnt that great of a language and only a handful of people can
actually make money with it?

~~~
crgt
291K "app economy" jobs is nothing to sneer at:
<http://www.apple.com/about/job-creation/>. One of 'em is mine. I support a
family of five with it. Why isn't that on the list of things we'd want to
teach kids to be able to do?

The code.org video opens with a Steve Jobs quote, and the language that powers
much of his legacy isn't good enough to teach? Really?

~~~
aashaykumar92
let me know if im missing something, but where do they mention specific
programming languages? I don't seem to see any reference to it. Furthermore,
Objective C is taught like the others--for example, CodeSchool has an entire
section on iOS app development and an Objective C tutorial to go along with
it...

~~~
crgt
When you volunteer to teach (<http://www.code.org/help>), they list languages
that you can teach, and the list they push does not include Objective-C. Nor
is there an "other" option.

EDIT: They added an "other" option to that list since yesterday when I first
tried to sign up. That's a good start.

------
selectout
Loved seeing them bring in celebrities outside of the tech world to share
their experiences/passions for code.

Chris Bosh was a complete surprise to me but made me like him even more.

~~~
Nemisis7654
I agree. Not many young people know who Gabe Newell or Drew Houston is. But
seeing big names like that that younger people are familiar with could lead to
more interest in coding. Great video.

~~~
grapjas
Or compare the public reaction of the death of Steve Jobs vs. the death of
David Ritchie

~~~
sreyaNotfilc
You mean Dennis Ritchie...

BTW, I posted news about his death (I heard of it a week after he died, go
figure) on facebook. Its sad that one person replied with RIP Mr. Ritchie and
a "like". I was pleased though.

That's the way the world turns.

~~~
zwegner
Yep, same with John McCarthy, who died around the same time.

------
jkeesh
Make sure to check out CodeHS. We are the little demo shown in the video using
"Karel the dog." We work on making it fun and accessible to beginners, mostly
in high schools and middle schools, but also have all ages of students. More
than other "learn to code" sites, we focus on problem solving rather than
syntax, and also provide help from real people to students along the way.
<http://codehs.com>

It's exciting to see a video like this highlight the real need and current
lack of computer science education in high schools. That is exactly what we
are working on, and have high schools all around the country! If this is an
issue you are interested, in please contact as at team@codehs.com

------
rodolphoarruda
I'm a manager. I can read code (PHP and C#) to some extent, but I can't code
anything. I tried to learn it several times, but the syntax and all its curly
braces were simply too complex to me. A bit frustrated, I decided to move one
step up in the stack and tried to understand software at a "macro level",
architecture, paradigms etc. I wanted to be able to make IT decisions based on
concepts I found easier to grasp at that higher level. It was equally hard.
But there is one thing I got from the learning process that I really liked and
kept alive in my head for future use: the notions of abstraction and
generalization. I'm thankful I learned this. I see value in applying it in my
life. If the idea behind the widespread of teaching/learning how to code,
involves concepts like those I mentioned, then I think it is super valid.

~~~
elbear
If you still want to learn how to code, try with different languages. Python
is a favourite for people starting out with programming, for example.

------
kayoone
I get the message and it certainly makes sense for alot of people to be able
to code, but on the other hand i know so many (also smart) people that hate
any job that would involve using a computer for more than communication.

Not everyone wants to sit in front of a screen all day, and imo thats a good
thing.

~~~
danso
Not everyone wants to sit and read or do calculations, but it's still
important to have a basic grasp of literacy and numbers.

Currently, there is not a basic grasp of digital literacy. I don't think
everyone should know, off the top of their head, how to compile a script. But
if people understood the idea of patterns in text and repeatable tasks (i.e.
for loops), that could be very helpful, especially to professional developers
who can make use of structured, well planned information.

------
jfb
Software is terrible. I'm not sure the solution to the vast stinking wasteland
of software slop is more people -- if pressed, I'd say it's less software.

------
lifeisstillgood
FOr me the reasoning is simple:

* reading and writing code is basic literacy for the information age

* One generation hence, any company that is literate (almost all employees write code, the use of code runs through all its processes) will have enormous competitve advantages. Or rather any company that is illiterate will have enormous competitive disadvantages

* So Software will eat the world.

* but in the process from here to there, developers will take over more and more - moving from the "typing pool" into all of the company.

* this is unlikely to be a fixed supply of coders getting more % of revenue, and more like everyone learns to code and then usual political fighting resumes.

~~~
rimantas

      > reading and writing code is basic literacy for the
      > information age
    

No. Just like everyone being a car mechanic is not the basic literacy of the
automotive age.

"Everyone learns to code" is a pipe dream.

~~~
lifeisstillgood
But everyone learning to drive is / was. Being a car driver is python coding.
Being a car mechanic is probably on the order of writing a compiler.

The analogies will always break down but really, in this day and age, an adult
in the Western world who cannot drive is socially and econmoically
disadvantaged. ( _chooses_ not to is likely a different thing - for half of 20
years in London I had no car and biked / tubed everywhere. Now, my day would
be impossible without a car. Sad but true)

I mean how many 17 year-olds do you know who say, "Learning to drive - who
needs it?"

~~~
k-mcgrady
>> "But everyone learning to drive is / was. Being a car driver is python
coding. Being a car mechanic is probably on the order of writing a compiler."

I think being a car driver is more equal to being a competent computer user
not a python programmer.

~~~
lifeisstillgood
Really? Driving a car is hard... lives depend on it, it requires judgement and
constant attention to details. That we have mostly got it down to our sub-
concious does not change that.

"competant" computer users who do not code basically send email and write word
docs. Thats the level of putting on a seat belt, or working out how to turn on
the air-con.

We can argue about the analoigy for a long time, but pretty much anyone can be
taught to code a simple dynamic web site. Children learn Logo - thats Lisp
basically.

Anyone _can_ code - just teach them young enough.

~~~
dinkumthinkum
You're straining this analogy though. Using fine motor skills and hand eye
coordination is different from understanding recursion and using to solve
problems. Let's get serious everyone. :)

This is not to knock anyone but let's say all of us participating in this
discussion are at or better than the level of coding we think the general
public should be at. This coding ability still doesn't seem to make us have
great, sound, logical arguments and all these other attributes that are being
espoused.

------
gamebit07
Programming only does not help you think, there are several other disciplines
that help you think. Philosophy/Logic/Sociology IMHO does it better. If
industry needs more programmers, for economic growth, this does not mean kids
should be brainwashed to learn to code. And even after learning to code, what
do you do, an average programmers life goes just copy pasting stuff.

Google/SO customize copy and paste. Thats what I have been doing. I wonder if
I actually think to solve problems while coding or just pile patterns of text,
place proper settings and API keys.

Having said all above, Deep within I believe hackers are like painters(Read
pg's great essay - <http://www.paulgraham.com/hp.html>), for hacking is like
painting, would you want every one to be a painter? If not why everyone a
programmer? Why learn to code? Programming or Painting is not mathematics nor
reading writing skills, i can live happily without learning how to paint and
how to write codes. Coding is NOT an essential life skill, there are many who
have been living without and will continue to live. I won't learn programming
because i don't require it.

I feel sad, on such brainwashing. And starting with steve job's quote about
programming, is like doing a ferrari promo by Michael Jordon. I would have
been happier, had they got something from woz.

Michael Moore come up with a documentary please.

~~~
dbh937
everyone might not end up painting, but to extend the analogy, most schools
have art classes.

------
MojoJolo
At first, I dislike teaching programming in schools. It is because the space
might then be over populated and finding jobs will be harder. Then I realized
math was taught in school, science was taught in school. But most of us
students didn't end up as mathematicians or scientists. Programming is much
like math and science. It is a technical topic, and not all of us will like
it. It can be taught in school as an essential subject but not all of them
will pursue to be a programmer in the future.

~~~
dylan-m
It would make software developers' lives a lot easier if so many people
weren't scared out of their wits by computers. I think even basic programming
knowledge can really help with that, because it makes it abundantly clear that
a computer is, itself, a tool rather than a magic box (that happens to contain
some tools in between all the scary and confusing stuff).

It isn't so much that I think everyone should be writing their own databases,
but some understanding of how good software _should_ work, (for example,
standard data formats), can guide informed decisions about software. Some
basic technical knowledge is enough to understand why you should never build a
large website on an ancient CMS where you end up with thousands of HTML pages
that will need to be completely rewritten, one by one through some clunky web
interface, when the site's design changes. Anyone should be able to look at
that kind of setup and say "hey, that's complete garbage — let's hire someone
who knows what they're doing!" and there will be a few less website janitors
in the world. And hopefully a few more people making cool new stuff in their
place.

Sorry, that kind of veered off course :/

~~~
dinkumthinkum
But take any subject we learn in high school, whether it's math, science,
history, etc. The general public is vastly uninformed about all of those
subjects regardless of the fact that they are taught in high school. Why would
programming make a bit of difference in that sense? It's not like programming
is not taught at all in high school, anyway.

------
onedev
I think the video was great and people are over analyzing it. The following is
what I got out of the video because I didn't over-analyze it like most people
are doing:

(1) Everyone should be introduced to computer programming. Keyword here is
introduced. Just like kids are introduced to Art, English, Biology, Sports,
etc. Many middle and high schools are simply ignoring technology for the most
part despite it's growing relevance in our lives and that is what this video
is trying to point out.

(2) A career in software engineering isn't necessarily the cubicle dwelling,
loner, boring stigma that most uniformed people associate with it. They're
showing that it can be a very fun and impactful environment like at Valve,
Facebook, and Dropbox (noting the free food, laundry, etc)

(3) You potentially have the opportunity to affect many people in very
positive ways through the software that you develop.

(4) EVEN if you don't pursue a career in programming, it can help you
understand its implications in many OTHER seemingly unrelated fields. And it
will help you develop critical thinking skills.

(5) It can be a learned skill like any other and there's no need to be
intimidated by it.

All of those are very noble intentions in my opinion and valid concerns to
address to the general perception of programming as well as computer education
at early stages to develop interest in people that otherwise wouldn't have
known about it.

------
greghinch
It seems silly to me that a basic computer science ciriculum isn't being added
to high school or before. In the same way you have to take basic biology,
chemistry, and physics, a modern student needs at least a fundamental exposure
to the basics of computing

~~~
CodeCube
I wholly agree with you, though I will expand it by saying that I hope they
bring back some of the other vocational classes as well (woodshop, metalshop,
etc). While I can't wait to see what new generations of programmers will bring
us, we need craftsmen, mechanics, welders and other vocational professions
just as much to help us with our physical infrastructure.

Basically, everything Mike Rowe says here -
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NwEFVUb-u0>

------
motters
I mostly agree with the gist of the video in that learning to program is
empowering and can sometimes result in a job. However, the type perk-laden of
working environments shown are unrealistic, and limited to large companies
such as Google or Facebook.

------
mckoss
When many of us started using computers, all you could do with them was learn
to program them. There were relatively few distractions of video games, or the
Internet to draw your focus away.

Today's computers are so engaging as a communications and entertainment
device, many young people are not exposed to the possibility of using the
computer as a creative tool.

Learning to program is just one such activity to get the creative juices
flowing in the next generation. Learning to use a computer to write a paper,
make a presentation or build a spreadsheet are fine; but the power a computer
can unleash has much more potential for creativity and originality when
students are taught to instruct the computer directly.

The early learn-to-program sites are focused on learning programming
languages. This should evolve into more sophisticated environments where
higher level constructs are made readily available (e.g., graphical
environments, data storage and communication features).

It's exciting because we can also bring the social element into the equation
to create for and with your friends and family.

------
jschulenklopper
The pages at <http://www.code.org/learn> could also include a reference to the
Raspberry Pi and the foundation behind it: <http://www.raspberrypi.org/about>.

> We want to see it being used by kids all over the world to learn
> programming.

It used to be a lot more expensive than $40 to give a child access to a
computer that (s)he could program and tinker with...

------
patja
I think the point is there is a huge gap between the supply and demand for
programming education, particularly for ages from 8 to 18. It is so easy and
rewarding to feed the spark of desire to learn and create among kids of this
age range, especially with all of the great free or almost free resources like
MIT's Scratch purpose-built to address this need and reduce the barriers to
entry.

Schools, teachers, and most parents are not equipped to deliver these
experiences today. The superficial "technology programs" at most schools are
appallingly shallow, not going much beyond Garage Band and book reports in
Powerpoint.

Videos like this help motivate those who have the skills to engage and make a
difference. What's not to like? Go out and get involved in volunteering to
teach programming to kids. You will love it, and you will make a difference
for kids who will go on to be the next generation of software developers.

~~~
cji
My 7 year old and I have been working together on the Super Scratch book from
No Starch and he's having a blast. When he asks "Can we program now?" instead
of asking to watch a TV show, it's an awesome feeling. With things like
Scratch and now Minecraft (which he also loves) on the Raspberry Pi, it's
great to see so many resources for kids that go beyond the BASIC programming I
didn't start learning until I was a few years older than him.

------
lenazegher
I've heard lot of people say that the best way to learn to code is to set out
to solve a problem you're having.

I wonder if the global trend towards open solutions for problems will
discourage people learning to code. I've been using computers for perhaps 15
years and I've only ever skirted around the edges of coding. I've learned a
little regex and a tiny bit of bash scripting and I know how to edit a little
php to get Wordpress to do what I want it to, but that's as much as I've
needed to solve every computing problem I've encountered.

Wordpress is a pretty good example: there's now such a rich ecosystem of
themes, plugins and hacks that you can get it to do some pretty amazing things
without needing to actually write any code yourself.

~~~
warp
Then you're thinking too small. Solve non-computing problems you're having! :)

------
steveinator
I really wish people didn't spread this kind of message. Think job security
guys! Come on!

~~~
sreyaNotfilc
I say "bah-humbug" to job security. That means that you just don't know or
care about your craft. If you were really "1337" job security would be the
last thing on you mind. You would actually be running the show and working on
amazing products/solutions.

I'm a senior developer and I teach my methods to my colleagues all the time.
It doesn't hurt me, but helps the team and the cause immensely. It makes going
to work much more enjoyable when everyone is on the same page and pushing each
other.

~~~
acuozzo
> I say "bah-humbug" to job security. That means that you just don't know or
> care about your craft.

I'm twenty-five years old. My wife and I have four cats, a home, two cars, and
more than six figures of combined student loan debt.

I earn 75% of our total income as a Software Engineer. We can't survive on my
wife's income alone and we don't have any family members to fall back on if
times get tough.

So you, a senior web developer at JPC, might say "bah-humbug" to job security,
but I, for the reasons listed above, do not.

~~~
rozap
I think the parent comment is absolutely right, more competition in the
industry can only be a good thing from a societal perspective, as the highest
quality workers take the jobs from the poor performers. Obviously from your
perspective it might be worrisome, especially (and I apologize for getting
personal) with all that stuff coupled with student loans, but surely it's a
net societal good.

~~~
acuozzo
I was responding to the specific portion of the parent comment I quoted,
nothing more.

------
antirez
This no-profit IMHO should focus on creating a free, cross-platform, awesome
system similar to Codea iPad app [1], that is, the BASIC of 80s. Everything
not in the same line is too boring.

I've a very very positive experience with load81 [2], something I wrote almost
solely for my son. In the latest months and thanks to this program my son
learned to write Lua code and we are having a lot of fun.

I don't think it would be possible without a system that makes drawing a
circle or checking where the mouse pointer is _trivial_.

[1] <http://twolivesleft.com/Codea/>

[2] <https://github.com/antirez/load81>

------
adventured
I was fortunate enough that the public elementary school I went to, had a full
computer lab (in 1985); the public middle school and high school also did. And
this was in a very poor part of the country. There's little question every
school in America should have that; if my poor public schools were able to
make it happen, anybody can.

I learned basic programming in middle school (turbo pascal!) and high school
courtesy of those opportunities. I plan to give back throughout the rest of my
life, to the education system I came from. If even one or two people per
school did that, it would make a huge difference.

------
dfischer
Just want to share something I've been involved with: <http://www.kidsruby>
and <http://www.kidscodecamp.com>

~~~
dfischer
Sorry for typo, can't edit. <http://www.kidsruby.com>

------
stevenameyer
I think programming really needs to be added to public school curriculums. Not
just because there is a lot of job opportunities for people with the skill
set, but also because I personally believe it is one of the best vehicles for
learning critical thinking skills, problem solving and computer literacy. All
skills that are very useful in todays day and age regardless of wether you end
up ever writing a line of code outside of school.

------
vellum
I think exposing kids to programming is a good thing. But when so many
applicants fail the Fizzbuzz test, do you think there is something innate
about coding? For other subjects, like math, you can get most people to do the
basics, like add 2+2.

[http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/07/separating-
programm...](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/07/separating-programming-
sheep-from-non-programming-goats.html)

~~~
qu4z-2
But 2+2 is something you learn by rote, really.

------
mich41
School courses will do nothing if people don't have access to programmable
computers. And they don't have - Windows doesn't ship with Visual Studio, OSX
and Linux are irrelevant, iOS and Android don't come with SDK CDs and demos.

Now, of course, you know that these tools exist, and I know too. But most
people don't and to them programming simply doesn't exist. Teaching these
people quicksort in school won't be of much help.

~~~
Bootvis
But most have access to Excel. VBA has it warts but the step from Excel is
small and creating something valuable is actually possible for beginners.

~~~
dinkumthinkum
VBA ... gosh ... Why don't you just use a Web browser and Javascript.

~~~
Bootvis
I hate VBA as much as the next person here, quite certainly even more.
However, comparing VBA and Javascript:

\- To be really productive Javascript requires knowledge of HTML/CSS

\- Both have their quircks

\- For the things people do in their day jobs Excel/VBA is a better match

\- You can do some mathematical stuff easier, it has matrix multiplication and
a generally usable solver

------
clockwork_189
I am in full support of this movement. Its benefit in my opinion are twofold:
1) Younger kids learn to code and which will result in them becoming more
skillful programmers when they are older. 2) People who can currently program
and write shitty code get challenged and can actually seek to improve their
own skills and learn about more advanced concepts in programming.

------
klepra
I think these days is relatevely easy to get basics down with sites like
codecademy, codeschool, teamtreehouse and such. At least in web developement.
You can get the idea how it all works, how to do simple stuff.

To me, the biggest challenge is to get bigger picture of technology I am using
-> once I understand that learning is much faster.

------
te_chris
I really hope that barely-disguised copy of an LCD sound system song in there
involved royalties being paid to the band.

~~~
rgarcia
It's turtles all the way down. I love LCD, but here are examples of things
James Murphy lifted:

the fall telephone thing: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEOtckaZtLg#t=0m36s>
pretty distinctive way to say "i'm tapped" used in movement:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6MIChyCBAU#t=0m43s>

in general his vocal style and delivery alternate between mark e smith from
the fall and brian eno. really not a bad thing in my book, but still not
entirely original.

homosapien by peter shelley: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HwmO_GZfzI>
sounds like the basis of north american scum:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmm14g4cAFc>

there's also the more than passing similarity between somebody's calling me:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRCAuao67F4> and iggy pop's nightclubbing:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3OaMZojJRg>

all i want <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6BYCcy5aeo> is pretty much bowie's
heroes.

~~~
te_chris
I understand it's just culture, appropriation is how culture develops. That
being said, that piece of music used in this is obviously just a rip off of
Dance Yrself Clean, with a small modality change.

~~~
m0hit
Based on past occurrences, it would seem that DFA Records would not mind it
too much:

<https://twitter.com/dfarecords/status/205708411344666625>
[http://boilerroom.tv/james-murphys-red-bull-music-academy-
le...](http://boilerroom.tv/james-murphys-red-bull-music-academy-lecture/)

------
rocky1138
This is all well and great, and my comment is meant in no way to belittle
these efforts.

What good programmers have a lot of, though, is self-discipline, initiative,
and patience. If we can teach kids those core skills, they can use them to
learn programming later or excel in any other profession they choose.

------
moccajoghurt
Coding is an incredibly frustrating and hard path and I doubt that coding will
become more popular on a professional level. There probably can be more hobby
programmers that code some simple stuff but there is NO WAY coding can become
some kind of popular mainstream hobby.

------
JacksonGariety
I showed this to my high school programming class not two hours ago. They
weren't impressed until Gaben showed up. What does this say about inspiring
students to code? It syas that Minecraft has probably done more for the Java
than Sun Microsystems ever did.

~~~
dinkumthinkum
Well, shocker, kids are more into games than licensing collaboration software
to other businesses ...

------
tn13
Wrongly Done. Do kids really care about Bill Gates and the guy who created
Valve ?

Show them some Pixar movie and tell them how those movies were made with
technology. Tell them how technology enables sports bring people whom they can
relate with. Not Zukerberg or Gates.

------
beatpanda
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.

We're all going to look supremely stupid for things like this in ~2 years.

------
scarecrowbob
I think it's interesting that initiatives to teach programming mostly reach to
kids.

A big chunk of my peer group is 30 year-old underemployed humanities students.
If they were interested, I'm sure that most of them could be not-
underemployed.

Though TV takes its toll.

~~~
obstacle1
I don't understand what you mean by your last sentence. Are you saying that
your friends are too distracted by TV to learn coding?

~~~
scarecrowbob
I feel that if my peers would stop with the incessant stream TV, movie, and
video games, they would have no problem fitting in the time to learn all
manner of useful tricks, including picking up skills that would free them from
the jobs they hate.

I don't believe this is a collective personal shortcoming on their part-- it's
probably just the way of the world-- but the idea that so many of them hate
their jobs but have ten hours a week to play games/watch films frustrates me.
Rationally I understand why you might want to spend the day between your swing
shifts waiting tables doing something other than working, but from where I am
I think that all I can do is encourage them to do other things and point out
resources.

~~~
jurassic
I think people often use media to self-medicate and distract themselves from
their problems. Many of your peers probably don't even enjoy a lot of the
media they consume, but they keep consuming it because it is easier to to do
that than think deeply about their situation and take the risks necessary to
change it. If media is your coping mechanism for a bad situation, it's tough
to put that aside even though it's rationally the obvious thing to do.

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ehmuidifici
That's a cool intiative, But we have to consider that all companies that
support the initiative arent there for free.

Theres a commercial interest in encouraging kids to code: cheaper manpower in
the future.

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EGreg
Wow, we should have a lot more of these kickass videos so people understand
what we do without having to tell them :)

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bjoe_lewis
Seriously, do you think inspiring the students with the amount of money,
'they' earned with code is a good idea?

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michaelochurch
The gap between CS majors and software jobs is misleading. You don't need a CS
degree to become a decent programmer.

Still, if there's such a shortage of good programmers (and I agree that there
probably is) then why aren't we playing this to our advantage? A senior
engineer can't afford a house in the Bay Area or New York, and our status is
low-- we still work for managers; we're a defeated tribe in this way. Most of
us don't have the autonomy to choose our tools or decide whether to use or
replace old legacy code. Shouldn't our top priority, as a tribe, be to change
this?

We should make programmer autonomy our major issue.
[http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/programmer-
au...](http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/programmer-autonomy-
is-a-1-trillion-issue/) This will benefit us and the economy as a whole.

Then, after we've had this victory, we can work on increasing the total number
of programmers.

~~~
duaneb
> You don't need a CS degree to become a decent programmer.

You need one to get a job, though. If not now, in twenty years when you're old
in an ageist industry.

~~~
aashaykumar92
If you can learn to program on your own and become proficient in it, build
great projects, and keep up to date with the languages, why does it matter
what major you are?

Granted I'm 20 and still in school, but just being a CS major doesn't make
someone a great programmer. I like to think that employers care about projects
you've worked on as that is the best way to see a true programmers talents.

~~~
dreamdu5t
Just realize that if you don't get a degree, you will always battle people who
feel threatened by you. School becomes a core part of most people's identity,
and they can be very protective of it in passive aggressive ways. People are
told from a young age that people who didn't attend school are uneducated. At
least that's been the case with me. I have a great career and no degree, and
it's something I deal with constantly.

~~~
cookiecaper
Yes, I'm in a similar situation and see the same reactions. People have a very
irrational concept of post-secondary schooling. In many cases it's a very
personal thing for them. Many've grown up thinking they'd be the first-in-
family college graduate, holding that as a life goal, and listening to their
parents and grandparents complain about how they never had the same
opportunities as the college grads. Others have grown up with the expectation
that they'll keep in the family tradition of graduates and not bring shame by
failing to graduate. They've paid dozens of thousands of dollars for a degree.
They've invested four years or more of their life, and all of that is
epitomized in the "degree", when they're pat on the back and told they're a
real grown-up now. And _many_ seriously take this whole process to heart, and
the less real value in a career, the worse this degree snobbery gets. They
feel their degree has given them everything (and honestly it probably has,
since their personal commercial value is often negligible). It almost becomes
an idol to them. It is, therefore, considered a heresy if you speak evil of
that system, and heretics are not well received.

Because of all this social programming, there are few who will admit that
modern undergraduate programs, and often their graduate counterparts, are a
horrendously inefficient, slow bureaucracy that provides a form of pseudo-
independence for developing adults, cater classes to the lowest common
denominator in order to pass more students, and occasionally have desirable
network-building properties. But that's the reality.

We tie up adult identity in degrees very, very closely in our culture. Someone
who never graduated college (or worse, high school) is automatically
considered lower class by many. It is considered an essential of both personal
and professional development in the white-collar world. Their whole lives
people are told, "Go to college so you can get a good job." Is it any wonder
those who've "paid their dues" and gone through these motions feel entitled to
employment, even if they have no commercially viable skillset (and, this is
critical to understand: _most don't_ )? It's becoming a large social issue,
but no one is willing to admit the real causes.

