[ctdonath]

I want to look back and say “I worked harder than I had to. I gave up time with my kids

Then you gave up the greatest influence you could have.

The author fails to note the "butterfly effect" where a small but worthwhile improvement in a development tool could be the key to doing something "really important" ... and raising a child to not just do a single limited task but to engage in a lifetime of helping others - even if by "just" writing marginally improved development tools - can in turn have a huge impact.

As others note, the author's sort of guilt-trip opining serves to tear down people who are doing good for the world. The luxury of early cell phones has translated into a race to bringing cheap ubiquitous computing to the world, what was then multimilliondollar building-filling supercomputers to everyone's pockets, $25 Raspberry Pis to any student who wants one, and the laudable OLPC practically becoming a moot point thanks to wireless low-power computing proliferation.

And among other unexpected consequences to my "extremely privileged life", I'm able to acquire cubic yards of artisan bread and distribute it weekly to the underprivileged/poor/needy - in no small part thanks to me having time to spare, and to include my kids in so they will grow up caring for those not so blessed.

"Strange how much human progress and achievement comes from contemplation of the irrelevant." - Scott Kim