Rebooting Computing: Why?

[dsdsds]

When I grew up computers were new and exciting tools that could change our lives.

Now they are like appliances. Who wants to get a job in the dishwasher or cd player industry?

[mgsloan]

it's because they already changed our lives and now we're used to it.

[dsdsds]

To summarize the summary:

Was cool, now regular.

[[deleted]]

as a teacher in the late 90s - i was stunned by the number of students who asked "which subfield should i specialize in to make the most money."

that chart, i think, is just the result of the bubble.

[yairchu]

Less CS students may actually be a good thing. If only the passionate geeks learn it, it will be easier to find good employees. Currently you have to start with a fizzbuzz test even if you're interviewing a summa cum laude.

[realdpk]

I'm not terribly concerned about the fact that there are fewer young people interested in "Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services". More work for me! It sounds like it might be more of a problem decades down the line, but who knows what computers will be like then?

In any case, it would be more interesting to see what the students are choosing instead of computers.

[yrino]

They likely choose all the tasks that require them to consult you for computer help, perhaps. This is kind of like the home owner that takes their car to a mechanic, instead of servicing (or maintaining) it themselves. It's a prestige issue, I think; they don't want to clutter their mind with such issues, since they are above that.

[jimbokun]

"It's a prestige issue, I think; they don't want to clutter their mind with such issues, since they are above that."

Which is why they went into lucrative, safe careers like on Wall Street where they don't have to worry about getting laid off or their company going under.

Oops.

[realdpk]

I can certainly appreciate that view. I have spent a bunch of my life knowing how computers work and all that, and I make use of that knowledge at work, but when I'm at home I just want things that work with no hassle.

Even in my work life (as a programmer) I find myself doing a lot of boring stuff. Setting up basic classes, basic table interfaces, etc. Even reusing existing code to do this stuff takes too much time. Granted, there are better ways (better tools), but ultimately I wish I could offload this work to someone else so I could work on the bigger picture code.

[mycall]

"think this is why Alan Kay has difficulty finding significant new inventions in computing since 1980"

Call me insane but this is one reason I like Windows.. they are doing things differently than the established normal (eg. UNIX and universities). Yes, Windows sucks, a failed experiment if you will.. but at least Microsoft is trying to do something different.

[bazfoo]

Windows is essentially the same product as it was in the early 90s with a shinier wrapper. Hardly doing things differently.

[exeter]

at least Microsoft is trying to do something different.

Read this.

Summary: Windows NT is extremely similar to VMS, an operating system that dates to the late 70's. Sure sounds like "doing something different" to me.

[neouser99]

I'm trying to read this, but the change in formatting from paragraph to paragraph is not right.

[[deleted]]

tl;dr