Tech Talk
New beginnings By Michael E. Duffy L ast month I reported that I was laid off Sept. 9. I’m pleased to announce that I will once more be gainfully employed in November.
and pharmaceuticals) declined to endorse a presidential candidate because their owners feared the consequences if the opposing candidate won. Technology gave us social media, where we wonder if the good of being connected and sharing laughter outweighs the bad of disinformation and rage. Technology gave us the smart phones which suck up our attention. I think we all feel the frustration inherent in the question: “What can one person do?” For example, the best thing you can do for climate change is to have one fewer child (followed by living car-free). For me, at
Given the generous six-week severance from my former employer, life continues almost without a hiccup. My new position is pretty much like my last one: I will be working with the same technology “stack”—TypeScript and node.js—that I used in my last position. And I will be still working in the mobile game
arena. This time for a much larger company (about 14,000 employees and $7 billion-with-a-B in revenues). Learning and re- invention are indeed the fountain of youth. So, here I am with a brand-new job, at almost 70 years of age (February), working in the fast-moving world of technology. I am privileged and fortunate, of which I am keenly aware. And I am grateful. Despite the uncertainty surrounding national politics, it remains a great time to be alive (at least if you’re a cis white male). As the science-fiction writer John Scalzi once phrased it, I am playing the game on the very easiest level (see tinyurl.com/5n6ux3mm ). I hope that as a nation, we continue to move toward a place where the potential of every citizen is maximized. Of course, students of optimization theory understand that optimizing a system often results in sub-optimal results for intermediate steps. If you’ve never read The Goal , by Eliyahu Goldratt, I highly recommend his readable presentation of the theory of constraints. But government should be seeking to provide the best possible outcome for every citizen. There are so many reasons to see the future as bleak. Global warming is a continuing threat to our future, and the United Nations recently reported essentially zero progress on goals to reduce that threat during the past year. Conflicts in both Gaza and Ukraine continue without the likelihood of peace. Production of fossil fuels continues to expand. Iran has a nuclear weapons program. Hunger and disease remain worldwide concerns, despite vast improvements. And billions of dollars are being invested in artificial intelligence without a clear way to avoid its potential downsides. Add in the rise of authoritarian governments, and it’s easy to be discouraged. As John Connor put it Terminator 2 , “We aren’t going to make it, are we? People, I mean.” Arguably, technology is to blame, at least in part. Companies owned by Elon Musk deliver amazing technology: reusable rockets and electric vehicles. Yet he was actively involved in driving election results toward a candidate he perceives as favorable to his interests. The L.A. Times and Washington Post (both owned by billionaires in tech
least, it’s too late to make that choice. At the same time, economies which have low birth rates, face other challenges. The fact is that we live in a complicated, interrelated web. Can we all prosper? I wish I knew the answer. But it is clear that governments which favor the few are antithetical to the goal of a world in which everyone enjoys a reasonable standard of living. Researchers say it is possible for everyone on the planet to enjoy a “reasonable” standard of living without destroying the planet, even for as many as 10 billion people. But that doesn’t account for the practical matter of making it actually happen. Why the hell is it so hard? I really believe that our hope for the future lies in our children. We need a world in which all children have the best possible opportunities: a safe and loving environment, free from stress and fear, adequate healthy food, access to healthcare, and—most of all—excellent education. I was blessed with a terrific public-school education, delivered by smart, committed teachers. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. My great regret is that I didn’t thank many of them. I’m gonna be OK. My kids are gonna be OK. But what about everyone else? I think it comes down to a fundamental question: Do you think that they deserve to be OK as well? How do we bend reality in their favor? Sometimes I understand the hubris that makes some tech people believe they have the answer to all the problems. Witness the efforts by tech visionaries to build new cities in Solano County and (gasp!) Cloverdale. But the sad truth is, it’s never as easy as it appears. g
Michael E. Duffy is a senior software engineer and lives in Sonoma County. He has been writing about technology and business for NorthBay biz since 2001.
November 2024
NorthBaybiz 15
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