I often wonder about this. Does capitalism impose so much emotional freight that it makes coding intimidating? Does having it attached to ideas about working hard and getting a job drain the fun out of it?
I’m beginning to think that I would actually get more coding done if I abandoned it as a career path.
Makes sense. When I was starting up, you couldn’t keep me from it. I just hacked for the joy of making things and seeing what would happen. But now it’s all tied up in work, performance, marketability, ROI, etc.
Even when I think about doing some hobby video game dev, there’s a voice at the back of my head telling me it would be more profitable to brush up on OpenTofu or whatever.
Whenever I meet another web dev, they either have a job as a web dev, they’re looking for a job as a web dev, or they’re trying to create a startup. There are no hobbyists.
I actually know one web dev (experienced, front-end) who has two kids and is transitioning to driving truck after getting laid off earlier in the year.
He’s got his straight-body license, and is working up to tractor-trailer. He just fixes things under the table and drives around, plows snow, etc. I’ve never seen him happier.
I was happy running my own successful website - did full stack, had a visual designer but I did everything technical from maintaining the webserver to the database to all the html, css, sql, python, PHP and JavaScript… but in retrospect it was a ridiculous amount of work for what I got paid, compared to what most people make for a tech job. I got burnt out and went back to an art career, but that wasn’t very profitable or easy. At this point I wish I maintained my tech skills but fuck, being an electrician or something would probably be way more lucrative and not more difficult.
Why is it this way?
ADHD
Oh no
Welcome to the club, pal
Because we didn’t evolve to survive in a capitalist society
I often wonder about this. Does capitalism impose so much emotional freight that it makes coding intimidating? Does having it attached to ideas about working hard and getting a job drain the fun out of it?
I’m beginning to think that I would actually get more coding done if I abandoned it as a career path.
Makes sense. When I was starting up, you couldn’t keep me from it. I just hacked for the joy of making things and seeing what would happen. But now it’s all tied up in work, performance, marketability, ROI, etc.
Even when I think about doing some hobby video game dev, there’s a voice at the back of my head telling me it would be more profitable to brush up on OpenTofu or whatever.
Whenever I meet another web dev, they either have a job as a web dev, they’re looking for a job as a web dev, or they’re trying to create a startup. There are no hobbyists.
I actually know one web dev (experienced, front-end) who has two kids and is transitioning to driving truck after getting laid off earlier in the year.
He’s got his straight-body license, and is working up to tractor-trailer. He just fixes things under the table and drives around, plows snow, etc. I’ve never seen him happier.
One of us got out 😌 he’s free now
I was happy running my own successful website - did full stack, had a visual designer but I did everything technical from maintaining the webserver to the database to all the html, css, sql, python, PHP and JavaScript… but in retrospect it was a ridiculous amount of work for what I got paid, compared to what most people make for a tech job. I got burnt out and went back to an art career, but that wasn’t very profitable or easy. At this point I wish I maintained my tech skills but fuck, being an electrician or something would probably be way more lucrative and not more difficult.
no that can’t be right it’s probably a personal failing that I should internalise and maybe spend money on /s