Mole End

Last night The Mole went to the Computer History Museum to hear David Alan Grier's talk "Too Soon to Tell: Essays for the End of the Computer Revolution" (drawn largely from his new book of the same title). The Mole usually emerges from such talks energized and enthusiastic, with a reinvigorated commitment to moving back to doing substantial software work at a high-performing outfit. (The reader is welcome to draw his or her own conclusions about what may or may not be implied about The Mole's current employer.) On this occasion, however, The Mole found himself dispirited. Not only do the glory days of software appear to be past, but also glory goes only to the young.

With some food (starting with a light meal at Totoro with Tim Kay (founder of Boopsie) after the talk) and twenty four hours between him and the talk, The Mole has regained his equilibrium and says "Onion sauce!" to such defeatist musings. It has to be possible to do interesting technical work even when family responsibilities make living on packaged ramen in a dump with six co-founders and working 18 hours a day an unreasonable approach to success.