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by drzaiusapelord 5564 days ago
I'm sure there's a lack of women or blind people or people who can't speak or write English. The thing overly-PC types don't want to address is that certain fields attract certain types. Geeky males in tech, women and gay men in fashion, etc. The lack of population matching demographics isn't proof of racism.

That said, I'd argue that unless you grew up with computers and were interested in programming them early in life you probably aren't the startup type. Your income level affects this, obviously if you can't get your hands on a computer then you're not going to be able to do much. As a geek I never had any "role models" or other things that set me on my path. Nor did my parents encourage tech. Nor did my friends. I was, and in many ways, still am something of a lone geek amongst non-geeks. I believe "role models" to be a meaningless cop-out.
1 comments
sn 5564 days ago
>That said, I'd argue that unless you grew up with computers and were interested in programming them early in life you probably aren't the startup type.

"That said, I'd argue that unless you grew up with money and were interested in trading early in life you probably aren't the wall-street type."

"That said, I'd argue that unless you grew up with movies and were interested in acting early in life you probably aren't the hollywood type."

Can we put aside this drivel? People can learn after they're 10 years old.

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drzaiusapelord 5564 days ago
My point isn't that they can't do x or y if not by age z, but that if we see an income-based disparity on whether someone studies CS or starts a startup, it probably has a lot to do with being in an income bracket where your parents could afford to give you your own PC and the time to play with it. Not to mention being able to get into a decent CS program.

Perhaps this isn't much of an issue today where PCs are commodities, but if you grew up in the 1980s, like I did, then it probably was an issue. An Apple //e or a //c in the mid eighties was around $1500. That's over $3000 in today's money. Having parents with disposable income matters.

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