An immediate thought here is that learning data may be better than learning code. When I was just starting out I was an "admin assistant" at various companies - I lost track of the number of poorly structured Excel spreadsheets I found that contained all of the data required, but in a format that made them utterly impossible to parse programatically.
Not that people shouldn't learn to code if they can. But learn to use Excel, and when you should turn that spreadsheet into a database. You don't need to learn a new programming language for that, just some broad concepts.
I agree with a lot of things this article says, displacing labour, short term 'money-saving' projects reducing the health of our economy etc...
But the idea that we will have 'too many' techies is absurb. At least in the UK, kids coming out of school have no idea how this IT stuff works. It's just a magical iPad to them.
The world is becoming increasingly focused on technology, and the general public has no idea how any of it actually works. I'm not talking about transistors and 1's and 0's. I'm talking about databases, text editors and command lines. How are the youth of today supposed to gain exposure to this stuff, when installing a program means typing in the name and and clicking 'Get' in the App Store?
Stuff like Minecraft helps, but the desktop PC is no longer something that families tend to have lying around. My 7 year old niece can use her iPhone, but if I put her in front of a keyboard, she would be clueless.
Maybe tools will evolve, but people will still have to make the tools.
The author lists 3 reasons (2 are essentially the same argument) why ""learn to code" is looking like bad advice."...I disagree with all of them...
> CODING CAN’T SAVE YOU
The author essentially states that coding will increasingly be outsourced and so don't bother. But this logic assumes that the size of the market is static...in fact it is not.
Literally every industry right now is already or on the verge of being dramatically changed by technology. Even traditional companies IKEA to McDonalds are turning themselves into tech companies, and all of these companies need coders. Regarding "learning code is hard"...yes...it is. But it is immensely rewarding and provides a very in demand skill set.
> TRAINING OUR ROBO-REPLACEMENTS
> HIGH-TECH UNEMPLOYMENT
I'm not disputing that automation will trigger widespread job losses but an individual is still far better to be the robo training worker than the person being replaced by a robot. If learning to code is such bad advise what alternative does he propose for the individual? Deny the fact that high tech is disrupting traditional industries?
6 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 15.3 ms ] threadNot that people shouldn't learn to code if they can. But learn to use Excel, and when you should turn that spreadsheet into a database. You don't need to learn a new programming language for that, just some broad concepts.
It's important to understand the technology but just programming alone is not enough of a valuable skill to separate someone.
But the idea that we will have 'too many' techies is absurb. At least in the UK, kids coming out of school have no idea how this IT stuff works. It's just a magical iPad to them.
The world is becoming increasingly focused on technology, and the general public has no idea how any of it actually works. I'm not talking about transistors and 1's and 0's. I'm talking about databases, text editors and command lines. How are the youth of today supposed to gain exposure to this stuff, when installing a program means typing in the name and and clicking 'Get' in the App Store?
Stuff like Minecraft helps, but the desktop PC is no longer something that families tend to have lying around. My 7 year old niece can use her iPhone, but if I put her in front of a keyboard, she would be clueless.
Maybe tools will evolve, but people will still have to make the tools.
> CODING CAN’T SAVE YOU
The author essentially states that coding will increasingly be outsourced and so don't bother. But this logic assumes that the size of the market is static...in fact it is not.
Literally every industry right now is already or on the verge of being dramatically changed by technology. Even traditional companies IKEA to McDonalds are turning themselves into tech companies, and all of these companies need coders. Regarding "learning code is hard"...yes...it is. But it is immensely rewarding and provides a very in demand skill set.
> TRAINING OUR ROBO-REPLACEMENTS
> HIGH-TECH UNEMPLOYMENT
I'm not disputing that automation will trigger widespread job losses but an individual is still far better to be the robo training worker than the person being replaced by a robot. If learning to code is such bad advise what alternative does he propose for the individual? Deny the fact that high tech is disrupting traditional industries?
My two cents.
Code is one of them. There are others. Carpentry, art, product design...