[jostmey]

I agree with author whole-heatedly that the software-development industry has shifted from manipulating machines to manipulating people. Writing software today is more about the content that the software provides than about figuring out how to make that actual software work.

Any modern web-based business must think of themselves as a media company. The software designers must ask themselves not how can I make something happen, but what content should I deliver to my users. There has been a paradigm shift in the industry. The code and how it works is irrelevant, and what matters most is the media that your service offers.

The author seems to wish that this weren't so, but unfortunately it is. I wish it weren't so, but it is. There does not seem to be any way around the issue.

[angersock]

"There does not seem to be any way around the issue."

Do something different. Write software that solves real problems and give it away. Fund yourself by coding for companies that solve real problems.

This isn't complicated.

[jostmey]

The outstanding problems in computer science don't seem to require ingenuity in how the code is written. Rather, solving these new problems requires ingenuity in how the problems are approached and in how the algorithms are designed. For example, I was shocked to learn that on my campus, some of the coolest work in A.I. (machine learning, or whatever you want to call it) was being done by statisticians, not computer programmers.

[MattGrommes]

Why do you have to give it away? Does a web-based tool like Jira not count as a way of solving problems for people and making money at the same time?

I don't agree that all web-based businesses are media companies. It's possible to do real work and solve problems on the web and have nothing to do with "media" or advertising or social anything.

[jostmey]

What are the top websites today? Facebook, Google, Youtube, Wikipedia, ect. What are examples of the up and coming websites? Pininterest? Reddit?

All of these websites are media based. These websites focus on the content that they provide. None of these services, with the exception of perhaps Google, really care about software development. All of them care about their sites content.

Because all of these websites are media based, their business models revolve around ads and click counts.

[angersock]

The problem with the web-based tools is that, by necessity, you end up needing to find a way to monetize your userbase. And that means ads, and selling private information, and selling trends, and doing all of these heinous things.

Giving away the tools lets the users help themselves, and frees you of the burden of having to keep the service alive and monetize users.