Obligatory Feynman quote Science is like sex: sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it.
2,069 karma · joined December 9, 2009
[1] https://www.americanheritage.com/content/“what-good-new-born...
Among the first Anglo-Saxon poems, from the eighth century, is “The Ruin,” a powerful testament to the brokenness inherent in civilization. Its opening lines:
The masonry is wondrous; fates broke it The courtyard pavements were smashed; the work of giants is decaying...
The poem comes from the Exeter Book of Anglo-Saxon poetry and several key lines have been destroyed by damp. So, one of the original poems in the English lyric tradition contains, in its very physical existence, a comment on the fragility of the codex as a mode of transmission. The original poem about a ruin is itself a ruin.
Here is another translation:
Splendid this rampart is, though fate destroyed it, The city buildings fell apart, the works Of giants crumble. Tumbled are the towers, Ruined the roofs, and broken the barred gate, Frost in the plaster, all the ceilings gape, Torn and collapsed and eaten up by age. And grit holds in its grip, the hard embrace Of earth, the dead departed master-builders, Until a hundred generations now Of people have passed by. Often this wall Stained red and grey with lichen has stood by Surviving storms while kingdoms rose and fell. And now the high curved wall itself has fallen.
In my earlier consulting role, and now as a CDO, it's my go-to tool for CRUD and data presentation apps.
(I don't work for Oracle.)
I've been using a fullstack low code development tool for several years now, and when it comes to developing CRUD apps or data reporting apps (with charts, interactive, drill down reports, etc. etc.), it's astonishing how quickly you can stand-up a secure, fully responsive web-app, complete with authentication, authorization schemes, report subscriptions, etc., without writing any code at all.
And, when you bump up against the limits of the declarative/low-code aspect of the framework, you can toggle over to java script, your own CSS, SQL, etc., so it's not like you paint yourself into a corner.
So, I agree, if Amazon creates something like this, and it is as good as some of the existing low-code tools out there, it's going to have a big impact over the long term.
edit: typo
Where do the savings come from?
With the rise of low-code tools/platforms, building such apps is almost trivial. So, the make versus buy decision is not as straightforward as it once might have been, especially for companies who already might have developers on staff.
*Edit: typo and clarity
>>"But I don't like to criticize without showing a better way, so I decided to immediately start fixing the most glaring issues...that involved quite extensive changes"
Is where things probably started to go awry. As soon as I read that, I knew exactly what happened and why.
If anyone else faces similar struggles, take 5 minutes to read this fantastic Steve Blank post. Although it is related to selling, it provides great insight on how Engineers, (who win arguments by "being right" and "clearly showing a better way"), can use other tactics to influence and "win over" a team:
https://steveblank.com/2009/06/25/convergent-technologies-wa...
If I were able to live my life anew, In the next I would try to commit more errors. I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more. I would be more foolish than I've been, In fact, I would take few things seriously. I would be less hygienic. I would run more risks, take more vacations, contemplate more sunsets, climb more mountains, swim more rivers. I would go to more places where I've never been, I would eat more ice cream and fewer beans, I would have more real problems and less imaginary ones.
I was one of those people that lived sensibly and prolifically each minute of his life; Of course I had moments of happiness. If I could go back I would try to have only good moments. Because if you didn't know, of that is life made: only of moments; Don't lose the now. I was one of those that never went anywhere without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, an umbrella, and a parachute; If I could live again, I would travel lighter.
If I could live again, I would begin to walk barefoot from the beginning of spring and I would continue barefoot until autumn ends. I would take more cart rides, contemplate more dawns, and play with more children, If I had another life ahead of me.
But already you see, I am 85, and I know that I am dying.
Edit: Not sure who the author is. I've seen it attributed to Jorge Luis Borges, but am pretty sure that is incorrect.
I recently moved some data processing from Python/pandas into a database, and with SQL, the processing time went from several minutes to a couple seconds, (and that on a tiny VM).
I understand that not everyone is familiar with databases and SQL, and so default to the toolset they know. But, the performance gains can make learning databases and SQL highly worthwhile. (And, much can be learned in a just few days, especially for those already familiar with working with data.)
I use Oracle APEX because it has a killer "interactive report" feature (ie a data grid on steroids), which enables non-programers to easily filter, aggregate,export,report on, etc, the data. However, although APEX is a free option that comes with the DB, it ties you to Oracle.
It would be great if there was a similar, database independent, low-code tool like APEX out there, so am curious what you have seen to work well.
I suspect, (at least partially), it is those who grew up religious and have since "thrown off the shackles", and are looking for validation/confirmation that they made the right choice. And, who hope to convince others to do the same.
As they say, some of the most fervent anti-smokers are those who used to smoke themselves...
>>It’s a story you’ve got about how you came to be, who you are, and where your life’s going...Narrative identity is just as much about how you imagine the future, even though it hasn’t happened yet, as it is about how you reconstruct the past. If I’m planning to be president of the United States, and I’m currently laboring in academia, well you’re going to have to develop a way to connect up your past with your goals for the future.
Having recently past my 47th birthday, I’ve come to realize how important is the notion of building a “narrative identity”.
It’s one piece of advice I’d love to give my younger self, and am starting to gratuitously give to younger people I speak with – come up with a narrative you wish to be the story of your life, and then day in, day out, lay down the bricks that will build that narrative into a reality. Be aware of the connections you need to build now, which will become your past, to what you want in the future.
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. said Annie Dillard. Each decision you make, each project you start, each job you take – think of how it will impact the narrative you wish to build. Be deliberate about it. The small things you do each day, taken in aggregate, is what your life will be. Just like when kids make designs in freshly fallen snow, at the end of all your tramping, there will be a sketch, a print. Make sure it’s one you’d want.
>>Larry Page assigned the project to me. He said, “Build some kind of email something” and chose me because I had an interest in email.
This is how you know you've found an awesome developer - someone who only needs to be given only a high-level vision of what is needed, and who can then run with it, fill in the details, and deliver something more awesome than you thought possible.
Reminds me of the famous "Message to Garcia" essay from way back in 1899: (http://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/199th/ocs/content/pdf/m...)
Or, a more current parable found in a post by Benjamin Hardy(1):
A certain farmer had become old and ready to pass his farm down to one of his two sons. When he brought his sons together to speak about it, he told them: The farm will go to the younger son.
The older son was furious! “What are you talking about?!” he fumed.
The father sat patiently, thinking.
“Okay,” the father said, “I need you to do something for me. We need more stocks. Will you go to Cibi’s farm and see if he has any cows for sale?”
The older son shortly returned and reported, “Father, Cibi has 6 cows for sale.”
The father graciously thanked the older son for his work. He then turned to the younger son and said, “I need you to do something for me. We need more stocks. Will you go to Cibi’s farm and see if he has any cows for sale?”
The younger son did as he was asked. A short while later, he returned and reported, “Father, Cibi has 6 cows for sale. Each cow will cost 2,000 rupees. If we are thinking about buying more than 6 cows, Cibi said he would be willing to reduce the price 100 rupees. Cibi also said they are getting special jersey cows next week if we aren’t in a hurry, it may be good to wait. However, if we need the cows urgently, Cibi said he could deliver the cows tomorrow.”
The father graciously thanked the younger son for his work. He then turned to the older son and said, “That’s why your younger brother is getting the farm.”
1 https://benjaminhardy.com/one-behavior-separates-successful-...
At any rate, I think the article rings true for many of the SaaS players in the "long tail".
In the same way, it may trigger thoughts/ideas for others, regardless of whether the agree with it or not. I'm glad I read it, as well as the comments.
*edit - missed a word.
I co-founded and sold a company that did SaaS/outsourced natural gas and electricity billing for energy retailers in deregulated markets, and cost consistency was a major reason why corporations signed fixed price energy contracts. Even though they might pay more than simply taking the spot market price, having known costs was preferable.
However, I've seen it argued both ways. I'd be interested to hear what others think on the differences in the CIO and CTO roles.
With that in mind, a key quote for me in the article was this:
>To help spur internal disruption, the company keeps tabs on 2,000 technology ventures, using about 100 in pilot programs that will eventually join the firm’s growing ecosystem of partners.
I think there will be a role emerging within Enterprises, (sort of like an "insurance broker" who finds the best coverage options among a sea of choices), that will be responsible for surveying new technologies that could potentially help the firm, and running pilot programs to see how they potentially help make the org. more efficient or more competitive.
One could argue that this is really the CTOs role, and it is, but often CTOs are focused on building their own technology, or maintaining existing legacy systems, and not so much on finding and implementing new technology that has not yet hit the main stream. So, at least the focus needs to shift.
*edit: typos