Comments on: 9 year-old app developer more than just a feel-good story

By: HorseExecutive

HorseExecutive — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:33:49 +0000

#15 Amodedoma
#17 Angel H. Wong

Cobol? *shudders violently* I also spent an entire year in a high school wondering what I’d be able to create when finished with the class.

I’d like to know who was responsible for choosing COBOL as the language for a 3-hour vocational school class.

By: Angel H. Wong

Angel H. Wong — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:49:32 +0000

#15 Amodedoma.

Cobol? *shudders* I spend an entire year in high school with it..

By: burnspeed

burnspeed — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:26:46 +0000

11: Or it could be your poor choice of job to take on. I’m in a programming job, I’m paid quite well, been here 2 years I make £45,000 a year (British Pounds) and get recognition for my work along with normal work hours.

By: amodedoma

amodedoma — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:38:51 +0000

#13 You are old, I got to work with a IBM 360 in the navy, but mostly I had to work with a Univac second generation computer. Those used core memory and full sized transistors – no chips. Nothing like compiling Cobol from punch cards. Thank god for the advance o technology!

By: watch ufc 95 live

watch ufc 95 live — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:31:22 +0000

what a geeky nerd. or maybe his father is the ghost programmer of this kid. just maybe.

By: KD Martin

KD Martin — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:36:03 +0000

Had there been an easily programmable machine when I was that age, I would have loved it. Being older than core memory, I had to wait a few more years before ASM on S/360 could handle my 1st app – a graphics layout system for large film for what was then called LSI. Fun years, 1960s.

Anyone remember LSI? Har! This kid should be proud.

By: brm

brm — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:07:29 +0000

I was writing little programs at that age as well. Big deal.

By: amodedoma

amodedoma — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:01:49 +0000

Yeah ok, so when he grows up (unless he’s clever enough to start his own company, most aren’t) he’s fast on his way to a low paying high stress job with little or no job security. Just like almost everyone else. My last boss at a programming job told me that development of the software was a value added to help him sell hardware. Quick development with MS visual Dev, Deadlines that are almost impossible to meet, salary job where you get to take your work home with you, customers that are never satisfied and/or too stupid to read the documentation, etc.
If he was my kid I’d make sure he understood that programming as a skill or a hobby is great (I still program my robots). But as a profession, it sucks.

By: Angel H. Wong

Angel H. Wong — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:30:14 +0000

And this is why companies outsource jobs, while the kids in this continent are busy sending naked pictures of themselves via phone cam the ones in SE Asia are busy making apps FOR the phones.

By: James Hill

James Hill — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:26:30 +0000

#6, #8 – Ditto. I switched to Civil Engineering after I realized any sort of programming degree was a waste of time.

By: Paddy-O

Paddy-O — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:16:46 +0000

#6 Bingo.

By: OmegaMan

OmegaMan — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:16:24 +0000

Let me retract my previous statement

National Science Foundation Degrees awarded 1966–2006

shows that they have remained relatively flat since 2000 with modest gains.

By: GregA

GregA — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:15:30 +0000

#4,

Because you don’t need a degree to apply for a programming job and be taken seriously anymore. So people get a degree in something else.

By: keaneo

keaneo — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:54:50 +0000

Pretty typical American geek scorecard:

egregious = 3

parochial = 1

By: OmegaMan

OmegaMan — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:51:19 +0000

If programming has become so ubiquitous…how come there are less computer science graduates now that in the year 2000?