For some reason I was wondering about this in the shower this morning. There may already be polls like this one but by now I'd assume they're outdated.
11-20 seems like a pretty uninformative range, assuming you want to draw conclusions (maybe you don't!) from the results, as it is in this range that you experience the most noticeable increase in both maturity and knowledge.
11-15 and 16-20 would have been significantly more telling. (As an aside, this is especially strange considering ranges such as 41-45.)
Message to the future: there were ~30 people who had voted 11-20 by the time the switch was made to break it up into two sections.
To figure out the actual distribution of people, you'll have to subtract 30 from the 16-20 range and then compare that with the 11-15 range, and then add back in the 30 votes distributed correctly.
I had looked at the poll just seconds after the switch had been made; There were only 11 people who had been transferred to the 16-20 range. (So the distribution isn't going to vary as significantly.)
Possibly. The odds are pretty bad for retirement at 40 though. Seems to be those who are successful / lucky enough to exit (making an assumption about your retirement plan), are also the kind of people that tend to just start another company or be an involved smart-money investor.
I used to think I would retire. I have enough mostly-passive income to live on, but here I am doing another startup.
Programming was still a hobby for me at that point. Still is. Sometimes wish I didn't spoil it by making it a career. ;)
I feel old now. I started a record label at 22 and wanted to do nothing but music and party. Didn't get a "career" until a couple of years later when my record label burnt out and the parties stopped...
I'm 23 now, and up until last July I was a professional touring musician (drummer!)...
During college my band signed to Victory Records. We all decided to finish up college and began touring immediately after we graduated. (Computer Engineer here...) I had quite a few people tell me I was making a big mistake continuing with the band and not pursuing a career with my degree... but I honestly believe I learned more on the road (about the world in general) than I would have during that same amount of time in an office.
I had a lot of fun doing it too... it was an opportunity I'm very glad I didn't give up. I left the band for personal reasons/differences and have been working on my startup day-in, day-out ever since.
My startup is actually centered around touring bands and their management/labels/booking. You can check it out at http://www.rela.cc if you want. It's actually days away from officially launching... I just need to add the ~30-second ads for bands and management, and make a few changes to the video tutorial.
So yeah... have fun while you can people and don't pass up once in a lifetime opportunities no matter your age! Maybe if my startup sustains me I'll be able to play music on the road again.
Well done! I love my career in IT but if I could've done the same I'd have jumped at it. Sadly my instrument skills aren't ideally suited (I play the trumpet) and I knew I wasn't up to playing with a pro orchestra, but I still miss the rush of the audience. Well done to have gone for it, best wishes for getting back there in the future if you want it.
Pretty awesome, had a listen on youtube, music is pretty good, guy doing vocals is pretty good, not sure about the screaming he may not be to bad, just don't know if the music is heavy enough in parts to make him seem in place.
Still great though, seems you like guys had a bit of success.
Its a great idea ! http://www.rela.cc I am a novice but it looks like those rounded corner blocks are patches pasted on top of a background, which I expect kinda to reveal itself. Maybe its because of the contrast color choice, I don't know. But Mainly, the descriptions are too verbose and some of them needed me to read them twice (I am in a band myself). The video tutorial part is too unnoticeable.
What do you mean by "expect to reveal itself"? Those rounded corners are indeed images... I did that for non-webkit browsers (i.e., IE lol). And what gives it away that they're images? It looks fine (blends in) on all 5 browsers I've tested.
I've actually shortened the descriptions 4 times to as short as I can make them while still explaining the full idea. If you can come up with shorter descriptions please help me out. :)
I've been programming since 8 or 11, depending on how strictly you measure it. (GW-Basic, then C)
I've not really found work to spoil programming any more than any other bad job would.
>Just remember to live a little ;)
Just got back from a 3 week trip to SE Asia.
I'm taking time for myself as I go.
I was raised by the stereotypical protestant parents, so I've always been rather work minded. I'm intensely frugal as well, asia trip notwithstanding.
My childhood was code and hacker/unix lore. I grew up reading stories about ken, rms, Pike, etc. I don't really know what else I could do for a living and be happy with, except for maybe some other engineering discipline.
I'm not as provincial as my background would imply.
Glad to hear I'm not the only one to do it as a hobby in their twenties. I'm 21 now, about to graduate from college with a Creative Writing degree of all things, and only started programming about a month ago. I just had an idea for a project, and started teaching myself how to do it. I'm surprised by how much fun it is, despite the challenges, and how many hours I've wound up programming every day since I started. (I also feel really lucky to have tools like Stack Overflow to help me out as a beginner.)
Thank you! Thank you!
You are an honorable person of good taste:)
I shall NOT abuse it. I respect this place too much, and PG is a hero of mine. I've been reading every word he wrote since the Dilbert Cube days. every. single. word:)
Although I'm 57 I might as well be 27 for the amount of time I've spend developing and building start-ups. I played saxophone professionally until I was 40, then gave it up as just too much work. I must be a glutton for punishment.
I dunno. After spending a few years sitting at a keyboard with letters on it, workin' 'til two where they close the joint with the old "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here," seems kind of attractive. Or would, if there weren't those little wetware alarm clocks always working their particular magic... (And I could still stay up that late on a consistent basis..)
Except there isn't a 20-30 range, though I expected 20-24 and 25-29. The poll maker didn't use typical 0-based ranges and thus ended with the awkward 66+ option.
It's funny how when you get here (I'm 47) you realize what a bunch of BS all the age complaints are. You appreciate life so much more, and -- speaking for myself -- are as full of energy and ideas as ever.
Based on what I have seen of old people, people tend to become more of what they are so if you are generally a happy person, you should be more so as you get older.
Will be this 39 in March this year and started a company. Planning to be a micropreneur and hopefully generate income from the company by 40. Self-sustaining by 41.
It would be interesting to see how this curve developers over time. Is the audience getting older or are young people filling the ranks of older members that left the site?
Funny pattern in responses. People on the younger side (<25) tend to be eager to prove themselves by listing their accomplishments, and people on the older side (>30) seem to be humble and self-deprecating, but still with that unmistakable hacker spirit.
I'm 28 myself, seems like 25-30 are the 'inbetweeners'.
I'm 22 and I read HN purely to learn from the "older" ones. I've got brains, but they've got brains+experience. That's what I find so fascinating about HN, it's like one collective hacker who's seen it all.
Haha. I think the smartest thing I've learned so far in my "career" is to know I'm capable of learning just about anything, so long as I actually pay attention enough to those who already know.
I'm 36, but in internet years, you're two generations ahead of me, so go back to your retirement home, grandpa, and leave this technology stuff to us young'uns.
I feel the same way. I'm 25, and if I thought I knew it all, I wouldn't be here. I consider all of you my peers, and feel like I'm missing out on the HN experience by not engaging you all. I plan to rectify this in 2011.
I feel like I learn a lot from the experiences of the 'older' crowd, as they seem to have enough stabilityto take more risks with their ideas, but I also learn a lot from the younger crowd who jump in regardless.
Although I don't think there were any surprises in the poll, I wouldn write it off as a useless post, because like eveything else that hits the stream, it kicks off some great conversation. Thanks for your thoughts, everyone.
I think a second dimension on this discussion would be fascinating. "How old are you AND how old do you feel?" Although I'm not sure how to word that just right.
For instance, capturing situations like: Are you a 65 year old grandfather that feels younger through the interaction with the core crowd here? Are you a 12 year old aspiring hacker that seeks the maturity of the seemingly 20-something base contrary to the peers of their own age?
156 comments
[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 342 ms ] threadSomeone pointed out (in the gender poll) that HN allows more than 1 vote on a poll at a time so sorry for splitting it up! I had no idea.
11-15 and 16-20 would have been significantly more telling. (As an aside, this is especially strange considering ranges such as 41-45.)
To figure out the actual distribution of people, you'll have to subtract 30 from the 16-20 range and then compare that with the 11-15 range, and then add back in the 30 votes distributed correctly.
I can only hazard a guess at what I'll be doing in 20 years.
Immeasurably.
>Like me. For over 20 years.
Fair chance I'd be retired by then unless I had a nasty divorce or something. But who knows?
Possibly. The odds are pretty bad for retirement at 40 though. Seems to be those who are successful / lucky enough to exit (making an assumption about your retirement plan), are also the kind of people that tend to just start another company or be an involved smart-money investor.
I used to think I would retire. I have enough mostly-passive income to live on, but here I am doing another startup.
YMMV
The entrepreneurial bug and divorce are the only things I foresee really jeopardizing that. That or being seriously fertile.
Hard tellin'. I'll be happy either way, and regardless of whether or not I'm getting paid, I'll code 'til I die.
In reality, retirement would just mean being much choosier about my projects and spending more time on open source.
I grok ya.
Programming was still a hobby for me at that point. Still is. Sometimes wish I didn't spoil it by making it a career. ;)
I feel old now. I started a record label at 22 and wanted to do nothing but music and party. Didn't get a "career" until a couple of years later when my record label burnt out and the parties stopped...
Just remember to live a little. ;)
I'm 23 now, and up until last July I was a professional touring musician (drummer!)...
During college my band signed to Victory Records. We all decided to finish up college and began touring immediately after we graduated. (Computer Engineer here...) I had quite a few people tell me I was making a big mistake continuing with the band and not pursuing a career with my degree... but I honestly believe I learned more on the road (about the world in general) than I would have during that same amount of time in an office.
I had a lot of fun doing it too... it was an opportunity I'm very glad I didn't give up. I left the band for personal reasons/differences and have been working on my startup day-in, day-out ever since.
My startup is actually centered around touring bands and their management/labels/booking. You can check it out at http://www.rela.cc if you want. It's actually days away from officially launching... I just need to add the ~30-second ads for bands and management, and make a few changes to the video tutorial.
So yeah... have fun while you can people and don't pass up once in a lifetime opportunities no matter your age! Maybe if my startup sustains me I'll be able to play music on the road again.
I was in it for the music (looove to drum!) and possibly being a positive influence... let's just say the rest of the guys had other motives. :|
I was also in a hard rock band for 7 years, though we never signed anywhere.
I've actually shortened the descriptions 4 times to as short as I can make them while still explaining the full idea. If you can come up with shorter descriptions please help me out. :)
I've not really found work to spoil programming any more than any other bad job would.
>Just remember to live a little ;)
Just got back from a 3 week trip to SE Asia.
I'm taking time for myself as I go.
I was raised by the stereotypical protestant parents, so I've always been rather work minded. I'm intensely frugal as well, asia trip notwithstanding.
My childhood was code and hacker/unix lore. I grew up reading stories about ken, rms, Pike, etc. I don't really know what else I could do for a living and be happy with, except for maybe some other engineering discipline.
I'm not as provincial as my background would imply.
I would never subject my (potential) children to my childhood.
It gave me a boost in my career and programming, but that's nothing that can't be overcome with a marginal gap in work ethic.
That said, I was very fortunate to be able to crawl out of the lower classes.
I wouldn't trade mine in for thiers though - I love where I am :)
Many many months of ramen and green tea.
Many...many months.
(I'm 45.)
* And that is before seeing the age group that is showing as 'dead'.
Don't abuse it!
I shall NOT abuse it. I respect this place too much, and PG is a hero of mine. I've been reading every word he wrote since the Dilbert Cube days. every. single. word:)
So, really, you're just at the cutting edge :)
Curios If i could link a poll of how many are married in the respective agr groups ?
Which means I will be terrible in my old age...
I'm 28 myself, seems like 25-30 are the 'inbetweeners'.
Well done.
Upvote.
;-)
It's working well.
I feel like I learn a lot from the experiences of the 'older' crowd, as they seem to have enough stabilityto take more risks with their ideas, but I also learn a lot from the younger crowd who jump in regardless.
Although I don't think there were any surprises in the poll, I wouldn write it off as a useless post, because like eveything else that hits the stream, it kicks off some great conversation. Thanks for your thoughts, everyone.
For instance, capturing situations like: Are you a 65 year old grandfather that feels younger through the interaction with the core crowd here? Are you a 12 year old aspiring hacker that seeks the maturity of the seemingly 20-something base contrary to the peers of their own age?