
The Peasants of Code - LarryDarrell
https://thebaffler.com/latest/peasants-of-code-tveten
======
ilovetux
This was a new thought for me, I must admit that I have sipped the "kool-aid"
myself.

I would like to push for a different outcome, although I'm not sure that it's
really feasible.

If computer skills become ubiquitous the common SaaS type businesses could
become obsolete. To be honest, I can't name a web app offered today that
presents any technology that hasn't been around for at least 20 years. The
technology 20 years ago wasn't as user friendly nor did it have the adoption
rates seen today, but nothing new has been invented only refined.

The only exception is that there has been major advances in surveillance and
the monetization of attention. Although the monetization of attention is
nothing really new; I mean there is a reason that the phrase "to pay
attention" exists.

If IT education was ubiquitous, Atom feeds and Jabber could replace facebook
and other technologies could displace other major tech firms.

------
atsushin
As a CS undergrad aspiring to get their masters, the claims this author writes
do worry me to some degree. I can't say that I haven't sipped the 'kool-aid':
one factor in my motivation for getting this BSc was this push for more code-
adept citizens promoted by SV and the government.

Over the years and having learned a bit more about the skepticism behind SV &
U.S. government's motives, I can't help but be concerned for myself -- and for
others, who are banking on coding and tech jobs to help rise up from economic
inequality. Perhaps my second, non-STEM degree might serve as a better backup
than I thought. :/

I know these concerns aren't baseless, but could this be a possible
overreaction? I'd be grateful if anyone could elaborate against what the
author proposes, and give a full picture of the other side of the debate.

~~~
hoopladler
Let's look at a historical example, coal mining:

1\. A coal seam is discovered, mines are struck. Skilled miners can expect
high wages, since there is a labour undersupply.

2\. Mining companies move to adress this, both using automation, and bringing
in more miners.

3\. Wages plummet as a result of the above. Meanwhile, the mining company is
ever more profitable as it increases its revenue.

4\. Coal miners unionize, thereby stabilizing wages.

So as it stands, the software industry is between 1 and 2. There was a severe
shortage of labour in the 90s, as the computer industry exploded. Now, there
still is, but not to the same extent.

The tech companes have follwed number 2 to the letter - both in pushing
programming training to governments (for much the same reasons that mining
companies opened schools), and in investing in better automation - better
tooling, better languages, and so on.

So, all programmers have to do is to do number 4. If they're successful,
programming will become an industry like mining - steady jobs that people
enjoy. If they're unsuccessful, programming will become a job like retail -
badly paid, unsteady, stressful.

~~~
emodendroket
> If they're successful, programming will become an industry like mining -
> steady jobs that people enjoy.

This description of mining seems, at best, a few decades out of date.

