Wow, that's so different from my experience. It's like saying only world-class weightlifters should work in construction carrying stuff.
The world around me seems to be constantly screaming: here's yet another thing that could be made easier with better software, no stunning virtuoso performance required, just plain old hard work. Why do I have to lift my eyes from my phone to know whether or not the bus I'm waiting for is arriving? Scrolling is nice and all, but can that menu with a hundred items take up all the space available to it? The pharmacy cashier the other day asked me for the same information twice because two systems won't talk to each other. And a million other things.
I'm an outlier. FWIW my worldview is self-consistent.
> It's like saying only world-class weightlifters should work in construction carrying stuff.
No, I'm saying only world-class engineers should design the cranes, so that regular folks can use them with minimal risk.
> The world around me seems to be constantly screaming: here's yet another thing that could be made easier with better software, no stunning virtuoso performance required, just plain old hard work.
With respect, I think that's bias. Ask an Amish person how much software is required to live a successful, fulfilling life.
> Why do I have to lift my eyes from my phone to know whether or not the bus I'm waiting for is arriving?
Wow, that's so different from my experience. In all seriousness though, if you're attention is so consumed by your phone that you have trouble noticing if a bus is arriving I'd say that's a personal problem.
Given the fact that our civilization is rapidly stuffing radio-connected computers in everything, I'd say that it becomes more imperative that we ensure that only the best quality software is deployed, eh?
> Scrolling is nice and all, but can that menu with a hundred items take up all the space available to it?
That's a problem caused by bad software, a symptom of what I'm describing.
> The pharmacy cashier the other day asked me for the same information twice because two systems won't talk to each other.
At the pharmacy there might be an good reason for that, but if not then you're describing another symptom of what I'm talking about. System design is hard, it takes really good people to do it right.
We are fortunate that, once written, high-quality software is just as cheap to use (actually cheaper) than crappy software, and we should take advantage of that. (E.g. use Elm-lang rather than JS flavor-of-the-month et. al.)
About the bus issue, I can perceive a bus coming "for free", but not whether it's my bus. I live in a big city, and it's normal for 10 or so unrelated busses to pass by.
And if someone really focuses so hard that they would not perceive a bus, would you really dismiss it as their own issue? What if it's a book rather than a phone? What if it's their child?
First, sorry for being rude. I could have phrased that better.
> About the bus issue, I can perceive a bus coming "for free", but not whether it's my bus. I live in a big city, and it's normal for 10 or so unrelated busses to pass by.
I live in a big(-ish, SF is only ~50 square miles) city, but I still can't relate personally to what you seem to me to be describing. I catch the bus a lot, and I like to read books while doing it, and I can and do maintain awareness of my surroundings and the people and vehicles and whatnot around me. I feel it's a matter of common courtesy. It's rude and a little dangerous to enter into a deep trance in a public space like a bus stop, in my opinion.
> And if someone really focuses so hard that they would not perceive a bus, would you really dismiss it as their own issue? What if it's a book rather than a phone? What if it's their child?
So, yes, in the context of a bus stop, while waiting for a bus, if one is so into one's personal whatever that one is surprised by the bus arriving, and this happens all the time, then, to me, it seems like one might have some sort of attention problem.
Look I'm all for software making the world a better place. That is literally my job and lifelong goal. I think you chose some bad examples. I want the robots to do the work and we all get on with Star Trek and sh-stuff. I'm into it. I just want the goddamned robots to work well. As it is now we have guns that shoot their own side, self-driving cars that run people over, IoT that I can't even, etc... and e.g. Mr. & Mrs. tractor-"owners" can't fix their own tractors anymore because there are computers in them now. WTF?
If you want to continue talking about this can we talk about Elm-lang vs JS? I'm not trying to pick on you personally, I'm wound up about the state of the industry.
The world around me seems to be constantly screaming: here's yet another thing that could be made easier with better software, no stunning virtuoso performance required, just plain old hard work. Why do I have to lift my eyes from my phone to know whether or not the bus I'm waiting for is arriving? Scrolling is nice and all, but can that menu with a hundred items take up all the space available to it? The pharmacy cashier the other day asked me for the same information twice because two systems won't talk to each other. And a million other things.