Interesting People mailing list archives
Re: MARKETER'S DREAM, ENGINEER'S NIGHTMARE - comments from Paul Baran
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1993 12:11:07 -0500
Date: 15 Dec 93 20:33:55 EST From: Paul Baran <73507.2223 () CompuServe COM> Dave, re: MARKETER'S DREAM, ENGINEER'S NIGHTMARE Apple's chief promised too much on the Newton, and the design team paid a heavy price. by John Markoff ... The pressure to finish, exhilarating at first, eventually overwhelmed some of the young designers. After 18-hour days, some engineers went home and cried. Some quit. One had a breakdown and ended up in jail. One took a pistol and killed himself. (The story provides more detail on each of these.) - Jon Jacky, University of Washington, jon () radonc washington edu --------------------------- Hell, as a guy who has gone through lots of start-ups with 18 hour days and loving it, it sounds like some 9 to 5 wimps got into the wrong job. There are startup guys and then there are the 9 to 5ers. A 9 to 5er should never be allowed to get near a boiler house project. That takes a different breed of engineer -- one that doesn't know any better, and one that keeps telling himself, "I'm having fun; I'm having fun; I'm having fun..." Startup guys tend to go from one startup to another. They don't "burn out." Burn out is something that occurs only to the 9 to 5ers that are encouraged to stay to 7 PM. Date: 16 Dec 93 12:04:16 EST From: Paul Baran <73507.2223 () CompuServe COM> Sure, Dave. OK to republish. Consider it a contribution to honesty in packaging. Engineering in a highly competitive environment requires dedication and resolve to win when competing against the best brains from all over the world. If the message causes some 9 to 5ers to switch to some other fields, we all win. We lower social costs by having fewer "burn outs." The fewer remaining guys not afraid of playing a tough challenging game will fair better economically and will enjoy life better by not having to put up with whiners and cry babies that accidentally stumbled into this profession.
Current thread:
- Re: MARKETER'S DREAM, ENGINEER'S NIGHTMARE - comments from Paul Baran David Farber (Dec 16)