If Software Is Eating the World, Why Don't Coders Get Any Respect? (2011)

25 points·datadawg··4 comments

Stumbled upon this old thread and curious to hear whether folks think this has changed eight years later. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2919708

View on HN

That was in 2011. Facebook, Youtube, Amazon, Uber, AirBnB were very much on their way up. I think coders get huge amounts of respect nowdays and I heard CS is one of the hottest majors now. The persona of the basement dwelling, thick lens glasses wearing, cheetos covered, socially awkward software programmer has been replaced by the hoodie wearing, anti-establishment, hyperintelligent, socially savvy rich entrepreneur.

Because coders are mostly considered to be line workers.

They're comparatively well-paid labourers but their work more often than not is perceived as a cost centre with the actual value creation happening elsewhere (product development, design, marketing).

At least partly, coders have themselves to blame for that. By identifying as a "Java / JavaScript / Whatever developer" rather than someone who solves business problems developers commoditise themselves and their services.

If you're essentially marketing yourself as a set of TLAs you become a fungible resource.

For the same reason that when industries were eating the world workers didn't get any respect . Why should programmers be treated in any way better than the rest of the world ? Are we somehow more worthy ?

I think software innovation is good. But still you have to know the world so softwares won't eat it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com