I tend to agree with you, but I don't think it's that black though.
> Even if you implemented everything correctly, if your method is not better than the state of the art, you just wasted your time.
You didn't waste your time as you know now the state of the art, and also why your method isn't better.
> Do you want to become a professor? Forget about. There are so many bright PhDs competing for a few academic openings.
The world is a big place. There's more to academia than Ivy League in the US. And don't believe all professors are geniuses! I think it's possible to somewhat assess your odds to get an academic position when you start a PhD.
On the downside, academia is very competitive and being a second rank professor drowning in teaching and administrative duties isn't the most rewarding thing to do.
> Even if you become a professor, it will take 10 years and a lot of work to get tenure. And if you finally become a professor, the pay is terrible compared to the industry.
This also depends in which industry you want to work. Not all fields/companies pay as a well as Google. And having a PhD can also open doors in industry.
> Even if you implemented everything correctly, if your method is not better than the state of the art, you just wasted your time.
You didn't waste your time as you know now the state of the art, and also why your method isn't better.
> Do you want to become a professor? Forget about. There are so many bright PhDs competing for a few academic openings.
The world is a big place. There's more to academia than Ivy League in the US. And don't believe all professors are geniuses! I think it's possible to somewhat assess your odds to get an academic position when you start a PhD.
On the downside, academia is very competitive and being a second rank professor drowning in teaching and administrative duties isn't the most rewarding thing to do.
> Even if you become a professor, it will take 10 years and a lot of work to get tenure. And if you finally become a professor, the pay is terrible compared to the industry.
This also depends in which industry you want to work. Not all fields/companies pay as a well as Google. And having a PhD can also open doors in industry.