AK HN: Is the Era of Hackers/Startups Over? | Hacker News Reader

AK HN: Is the Era of Hackers/Startups Over?

11 pointslegitster11 comments

As a longtime HN user. I've noticed a drastic shift in the last few years in the industry. The glamour of a "hot startup" has gone away in lieu of the inevitably of big corporations and big platforms. Being a programmer doesn't seem as desirable or command nearly the respect that it did just a decade ago.

The "hacker ethos" seems to be in decline, for any number of interconnected reasons:

- The rise of AI

- High interest rates

- Dooming/decline of tech optimism

- Decline of the open internet and the rise of proprietary services

- Abandonment by tech leaders

- Diminishing returns of software on human productivity

- Generational changes

Does anyone else share this feeling? Temporarily or as a fundamental shift?

To that end, to what purpose is HN if the idea of a "hacker" goes away? It's hard not to understand the sudden shift of HN posts being political news, but what other topics are more broadly relevant to tech people right now?

It's likely cyclical. Check again in 2040.

The glamour of a "hot startup" was a side effect of ZIRP.

The glamorous 'day in the life' videos were a result of ZIRP.

Tech optimism was a dream that was only insulated from reality by the easy money of ZIRP.

The inevitability of big corporations is a result of them actually having to make money now, not just expecting to make money at some point in the distant future, is a result of higher interest rates.

Decline of the open internet and the rise of proprietary services is because companies want to actually make money.

Being a programmer doesn't seem as desirable or command nearly the respect that it did just a decade ago because tons of people who wanted easy money, because of ZIRP, became programmers and diluted the pool.

Hackers will never go away, they will simply need to adapt to the ever changing environment in which they exist. But that is what Hackers do best.

For me, as an old-timer (?), the definition of a hacker has always been this one[^1], and it has little to do with the issues you're describing.

[^1]: https://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html

A single person can just do that much. The more advanced the technology is, the less important an individual can be.

Hackers were important because back in the 70-80-90s technology was not that advanced.

Now that with the advancement of AI, individuals are even less important. Ofc unless you are a super AI engineer.

"individuals are even less important"

These anti-humanists are disgusting. Always trying to devalue the human being. I would like you to repeat that same phrase on your next visit to the hospital emergency room, sick with pain.

We are not talking about the same thing. Sick and pain.

some monsters never die

This post is so hilarious as this sort of post shows up every decade or so. Hell, in the early 1900s the US Patent Office asked whether everything that was to be invented already had been.

There are plenty of things to invent still, but perhaps no longer in software. Every other field - mining, railroads, car making, chemistry etc. had its huge boom period sparkled by breakthrough innovations, and later settled into a mature field where not as much is happening. Perhaps it's software industry's time for that.

Software is not, itself, an industry, it is a layer on top of other industries, many of which still use outdated processes and paradigms. It's just that software engineers build what they know, mainly B2C and apps for other SWEs, not actually for these other industries.

It's like saying the "engineering industry" is maturing when in reality there's no such thing, there are engineers for every such industry, like mechanical, nuclear, etc.

The hacker ethos is as strong, or stronger, than ever. It just has little to do with anything silicon valley is up to.

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