Archis's Blog

The recession has shown many their place in this world, and we certainly haven’t learnt our lesson yet – we still glamourise the same business school suits that got us in this predicament in the first place.

However, I think the software and IT industry has finally matured due to the recession, and in the last eight months, I found myself having become an outdated, worthless relic in a new world order that is no longer dominated by computer science.

The difference is remarkable and yet subtle enough that nobody notices. Back when I joined the industry, I was hired for being a crazy workaholic obsessed with changing the world by solving the hard (computational) problems. Thanks to Google being the new “Cool Kid” on the block, every company was on a mad hiring spree to hire the best computing minds in the world. Everyone wanted to show they were “innovative”. That word was thrown around so much it made many sick. This meant interviews questions were largely academic in nature, and judged the skills the industry thought they wanted – complex algorithms, automata theory, and agile coding.

The recession though, brought everyone back to their senses. These skills no longer hold value on your resume. Google has given up playing the “innovation” card a long time ago, and if you notice the best version of windows so far (Win7) isn’t as innovative as what Vista was. It’s a different world order now, and I guess the next few years should see software and IT truly turning into an “Industry”.

Back in the 60′s there was only computer science. Nobody knew what one might need a computer for anyway. The Macintosh and the IBM PC changed all that. Everyone started building their own computers, which didn’t survive for long. Today, computers are a manufacturing business – you no longer dream of working for IBM or Apple to “build the next PC”. The best you can expect is to replace a LiON battery with a 5% more efficient LiON battery which was invented 5-10 years ago and is now proven to be reliable. It doesn’t really get much more innovative than that.

Software, however, was a different game altogether until an year ago. You could use the latest and greatest algorithm on the planet and ship it out to 10 million people the next day. People actually paid for that. I guess this year should be marked as a landmark in the software world when all that has changed for good. Almost every software company in the world is morphed into a signature of the automobile industry. The majority of the workforce no longer is permitted to make decisions. There are small cells and groups that may work on transmissions, or tyres or bumpers. But largely, the company isn’t a technology company – they’re not in the business to be heralded as the No. 1 employer, or No. 1 innovator, or whatever. They’re in the business to make money. The majority of the workforce is told what to do, and they do it. Not only are they not required to think on their own, but doing so is actually detrimental to the process which has been well-thought-out in the best interests of the company.

If I ask any of my friends today what is rewarded, then it is the regularity with which you come to work, how great you are at your job (meaning how little you deviate from what you are told to do), etc. This should be a wakeup call for all those thinking of studying CS in order to make a difference. Our science is now well-established. We are recognised as a mature field worth having. If you want to innovate, then like all the mathematicians and phycisists and chemists before us, find a tenured position at a University and get a few Ph.D. students. If you want to work in this industry, the days of the 20-year-old-fresh-out-of-college-calling-the-shots have come to an end.

This also applies to startups. The notion that startups innovate in technology no longer holds true. Startups have always, and from now on even in the computing field, will continue to innovate business models, delivery processes, cost reductions, etc. Startups will no longer develop new technology or create radically new markets.

That doesn’t mean you can’t change the world through software, it simply means don’t expect changing the world to be equivalent to good business.

It means all of us old-schoolers must adapt to the new world. There couldn’t be a better Star Trek moment in my life. We now venture into the Undiscovered Country. I find all those years of studying theory, experimenting, and working sleepless nights is now worthless in all but a few irrelevant niches.