<story><title>Programming in the Apocalypse</title><url>https://matduggan.com/programming-in-the/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>coryrc</author><text>Something like 5 million people die every year, should we be in permanent mourning?</text></item><item><author>titzer</author><text>What COVID taught me is that the human ability to not give a fuck is apparently infinite. I have trouble processing the fact that a million people died (in the USA) and there is no mourning, no shared sense of tragedy or loss, no looking more kindly on other people, just a madder, faster dash on cash and even more finger-pointing.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Covid was not 1% as bad as any pandemic featured in a film.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ll be generous and not dwell on this stunning example of this age&amp;#x27;s inability to get bothered by anything unless it hits harder than film. Look on the bright side I guess, despite how soulless, empty, and glib we have to be do so!</text></item><item><author>tasuki</author><text>&amp;gt; The pandemic taught me a lot about apocalypse.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t think it has taught you much. All things considered, despite all the suffering by unlucky individuals, when you consider humanity as a whole, covid is an insignificant blip. If it&amp;#x27;s significant at all, it&amp;#x27;s only because of our response to it.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Covid looked nothing like a pandemic film, thank god.&lt;p&gt;Covid was not 1% as bad as any pandemic featured in a film. Humanity has seen way worse, and we could still see way worse in the future.</text></item><item><author>madrox</author><text>The pandemic taught me a lot about apocalypse. While people are a lot slower to buy into collective action and changing their way of life than I thought, society is far more robust than I expected. Covid looked nothing like a pandemic film, thank god.&lt;p&gt;With that in mind, I have some ideas on what programming will look like in 30 years:&lt;p&gt;1. New frameworks and abstractions for making apps even more disposable while maintaining privacy will come along. New languages will happen. Corporations that just finished moving to the cloud will now be moving to even greater abstractions like Airtable or whatever comes next.&lt;p&gt;2. Programmer pay will decrease compared to other industries. This is a hunch and I’m only 60% confident of it happening.&lt;p&gt;3. Satellite internet will be more of a norm for no better reason than it’s the most efficient way to manage infrastructure. More rural communities will need it, and remote trends will continue. The cost of launches are going down and there’s a lot of land.&lt;p&gt;4. Everything will get more energy efficient, and most intense activity will be pushed to compute farms.&lt;p&gt;5. VR will once again come around as the next big revolution in computing, but will be ultimately disappointing and won’t see mass adoption.&lt;p&gt;Beyond these ideas, I think too much plays into our personal optimism or pessimism. I think things will change, but we’re a scrappy species that will fight to preserve its way of life. It will look a lot like our global pandemic response…warts and all. There’s a lot there to be disappointed about, but it’s actually incredible it wasn’t worse.&lt;p&gt;When these predictions hit I’ll be 70. I hope I’ll live to see it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>worik</author><text>&amp;gt;  Something like 5 million people die every year, should we be in permanent mourning?&lt;p&gt;That gives truth to  Benjamin Disraeli&amp;#x27;s (attributed) &amp;quot;Lies, damn lies, and statistics&amp;quot;.  Very misleading.&lt;p&gt;It was the concentrated effects.&lt;p&gt;When bottled oxygen ran out in India.&lt;p&gt;When you could not get into a hospital in many American cities (my American geography is hazy - South Los Angeles hospital, I think, was crippled for weeks)&lt;p&gt;Running out of morgue space in New York city - mass graves in central park.&lt;p&gt;It was really very scary, and I am glad I was not in any of those places badly hit.</text></comment>
<story><title>Programming in the Apocalypse</title><url>https://matduggan.com/programming-in-the/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>coryrc</author><text>Something like 5 million people die every year, should we be in permanent mourning?</text></item><item><author>titzer</author><text>What COVID taught me is that the human ability to not give a fuck is apparently infinite. I have trouble processing the fact that a million people died (in the USA) and there is no mourning, no shared sense of tragedy or loss, no looking more kindly on other people, just a madder, faster dash on cash and even more finger-pointing.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Covid was not 1% as bad as any pandemic featured in a film.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ll be generous and not dwell on this stunning example of this age&amp;#x27;s inability to get bothered by anything unless it hits harder than film. Look on the bright side I guess, despite how soulless, empty, and glib we have to be do so!</text></item><item><author>tasuki</author><text>&amp;gt; The pandemic taught me a lot about apocalypse.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t think it has taught you much. All things considered, despite all the suffering by unlucky individuals, when you consider humanity as a whole, covid is an insignificant blip. If it&amp;#x27;s significant at all, it&amp;#x27;s only because of our response to it.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Covid looked nothing like a pandemic film, thank god.&lt;p&gt;Covid was not 1% as bad as any pandemic featured in a film. Humanity has seen way worse, and we could still see way worse in the future.</text></item><item><author>madrox</author><text>The pandemic taught me a lot about apocalypse. While people are a lot slower to buy into collective action and changing their way of life than I thought, society is far more robust than I expected. Covid looked nothing like a pandemic film, thank god.&lt;p&gt;With that in mind, I have some ideas on what programming will look like in 30 years:&lt;p&gt;1. New frameworks and abstractions for making apps even more disposable while maintaining privacy will come along. New languages will happen. Corporations that just finished moving to the cloud will now be moving to even greater abstractions like Airtable or whatever comes next.&lt;p&gt;2. Programmer pay will decrease compared to other industries. This is a hunch and I’m only 60% confident of it happening.&lt;p&gt;3. Satellite internet will be more of a norm for no better reason than it’s the most efficient way to manage infrastructure. More rural communities will need it, and remote trends will continue. The cost of launches are going down and there’s a lot of land.&lt;p&gt;4. Everything will get more energy efficient, and most intense activity will be pushed to compute farms.&lt;p&gt;5. VR will once again come around as the next big revolution in computing, but will be ultimately disappointing and won’t see mass adoption.&lt;p&gt;Beyond these ideas, I think too much plays into our personal optimism or pessimism. I think things will change, but we’re a scrappy species that will fight to preserve its way of life. It will look a lot like our global pandemic response…warts and all. There’s a lot there to be disappointed about, but it’s actually incredible it wasn’t worse.&lt;p&gt;When these predictions hit I’ll be 70. I hope I’ll live to see it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>titzer</author><text>I know you&amp;#x27;re trolling, but I&amp;#x27;ll respond. Part of growing up and moving from just a mere legally-licensed adult is being able to hold heavy things. They never stop getting heavier. They just keep unfolding, and if you are willing to grow just a little deeper--not bigger, but deeper, like the roots of you being able to &lt;i&gt;feel&lt;/i&gt; things, then maybe all that learning to deal with loss, tragedies, loved ones dying, aging, your parents and uncles and cousins and friends dying--and yet not letting it destroy you, might be worth something. Though, for a moment, you can be devastated on the inside and hold yourself up without breaking. You don&amp;#x27;t need to cry your eyes out every day, but man, what the hell if we can&amp;#x27;t reflect on such a grievous time that has befallen us--all of us--over the past two years, without clawing someone else&amp;#x27;s face off or storming off in a huff. But if you need to feel not bothered at all, go ahead, you aren&amp;#x27;t the subject of this one.</text></comment>