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May You Live In Interesting Times....

And according to the people of 2014, We do...

In 1978, I worked on an IBM 370 via a 110 baud modem to a timeshare unit at Cal State Sacramento. My code had to be punched and translated to paper tape prior to the window when our class had time. It took two months to create a program that added columns in one punch card reader to columns in another and summed and cross hatched the values fed into the two card readers to produce a sum total on a third. It was all in machine language. I hated it...

In 1984, I worked in mostly IBM JCL and VSAM. I belong to the GENIE bulletin board system, and I own an original Mac, with 128k of memory and no hard disk. ( I still have it... it still works). I own a betamax, I leave a 100 dollar deposit to rent videos at the new video rental place. The paperwork to join is in triplicate and more complex than a car loan.

In 1987, I worked in 370 assembler code, creating macros for CICS and VSAM flat files. DB2 is still a twinkle, IMS is close but no cigar. The GUI is character based, and it was considered amazingly flexible to be able to display dates in formats other that US style dates.

In 1992, I worked on C code and proprietary GUI tools as we convert from mainframe to client/server architecture. I hear about something called TCP/IP and "the internet". Someone shows me a copy of mosaic. I wonder what it is I'm looking at. I cancel my GENIE account.

In 1994, I worked on Relational Databases and complex performance problems produced from running the same code on multiple OS platforms. This was not a problem just a few years before as there was only one big enough to care about, MVS. Now there are 7 and MVS is not one of them.

In 1996, many of my colleagues have gone "indie" as the money from Y2k Conversions is just too sweet to ignore. I begin to get calls from recruiters with bizarre plans for new software businesses. I work at a startup software company, its a back breaking, nut crunching hell made liveable only by the fact that I worked with the best people in the business. It doesnt help, as we still fail miserably. Long before it becomes fashionable in the south bay, We go belly up. We essentially beat the "christmas rush" as the end of an era in software development occurs two years later at the end of 2000 with the "Dot Com" crash.

In 1998, people begin to debate " Should a company convert to running its apps on the web?". I laugh as just a few short years ago, the same exact debate was over if it was safe to run applications on client/server architecture.

In 2001, someone decides that it might be time to toss expensive proprietary architecture servers out for cheap, essentially disposable generic intel servers running linux attached to network storage. I write a memo sayings its not "feasable,reasonable or secure". After the success of the pilot, I write a second memo saying I was wrong on every count. I end up being the project mananger. I also end up becoming an evangelist for the new technology.

In 2004, I work on grid provisioning systems that create and maintain infrastructure to run entire data centers with absolutely no staff on site. My connection at my workplace at home is T1 Speeds, my ISP is converting our neighborhood to FTTH (Fiber To The House), allowing one pipe to the house to handle voice, video and data, with room to spare. I work remotely with a team based around the world in multiple countries. We use VOIP and IM to communicate. I own 2 tivos. I have no video tapes. One of my PC's is a "media computer". My kids look at our old VHS tapes the way I looked at my dad's 78's.

1984 - Dial up. Structured Programming. Batch processing.
1994 - TCP/IP. Object Oriented Programming. Online Processing.
2004 - Network Storage. Grid Systems. Follow-the-sun hosting.

Care to place your own guess as to what 2014 will look like? Not me brudder....

Stay cool. Stay flexible. Don't ever think that the platform you work on today is the best of all possible worlds. If you begin to think it's all figured out, forget it. We're just getting started.


1984 - I wore a suit, drove to work and did my thing on the raised floor of a data center in Plano Texas.

2004 - I dont even wear a shirt with a collar, I never drive anywhere, I sit on my sofa. I used to have to be in Texas, now I can be anywhere on the planet and do my job and even though the data center is still in Texas, I dont have to be.

Posted @ December 21, 2004 07:45 PM | Current Events

Comments

2004: Half the web sites don't work because the firewalls were have to erect to protect us from the other half of the web sites block cute programmer tricks.

Posted by: Sharpshooter at December 22, 2004 09:04 PM

I'm with you, Frank. Futurists don't have near the imagination required to predict what the world will look like, not ten years down the road, not even five. The one thing we do know, however, is that it'll be interesting.

And, by the way, how did you ever get McAuliffe to talk to those scum reporters? He came from a time when the qualification for promotion in our nayion's military was leadership ability, not political acumen.

Posted by: Michael Gersh at December 23, 2004 01:32 PM

That's one of the great ironic parts of life, those of us who would most appreciate a few moments with a man like Mcauliffe are the least likely to get to spend time with them. Its a consipiracy of the gods, I think.

Posted by: Frank Martin at December 23, 2004 02:50 PM

I'm now working in an industry which didn't exist when I entered the workforce, using tools which didn't exist when I entered the workforce. What makes me good at what I do is not my understanding of how the GSM mobile phone network functions, or my skill at operating laptop computers, or any knowledge of the GPS satellite constellation. It is my powers of observation and pattern recognition which make me more valuable than the average cellular drive tester. These sorts of basics, and not any skill du jour, are what need to be developed in anyone looking for lasting value in a volatile world.

Posted by: triticale at December 29, 2004 04:49 PM