We're in the Wrong Moment

Summary

August 20th, 2011: Marc Andreessen proclaims ‘Software is eating the world.’ That was over ten years ago. Today, software is still eating the world, but this is no longer a groundbreaking proclamation nor a surprise to anyone. In the years that followed, software would become integral to our daily lives, business, and attention.My StoryAs I learned and continue to learn more about computer science through my degrees, I am constantly reminded of times gone by. I had professors who had lived through the rise of computer science; who invented network systems ground up, pioneered research in their fields and had advisors from the previous generation who invented modern systems that we know today. I am reminded of a golden age of CS and software engineering, where founders and academics would bump into each other in the Bay Area and create the next big thing seemingly on a whim.I met people and friends who had gone to work for their dream companies - the Microsofts, Apples, Googles, and those people who made six figures out of college. I had heard legends (for lack of a better term) of the geniuses; the students who made such a difference in school and then went on to pursue their dreams and have a steady career.Alas, all of this seems gone these days. In my final term of college, I can’t help but feel a longing for the days where software was eating the world. I feel as if I would’ve thrived, would’ve innovated, and would’ve had more fun. I feel like my experience would have been worth more then, but now it’s worth hardly anything in a changing industry.What do you do when it’s no longer fun?I’ve said my story a few times in different writings, but I started programming with Minecraft during my adolescent years. I learned Java and OOP before I had even learned algebra. I had learned worst-case behavior and programmatic/problem solving thinking before I had really started a sport. The struggle of solving a problem; of debugging, of failing, and eventually succeeding alwa...