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by bobterryo 563 days ago
Wow. I did enjoy putting it together, but I did not expect 'on of my favourite of all time'. Thank you.

As a critique my own work, I think it feels like a bit of a sales piece on the company and the culture, although that it is an accurate account of what the participants were saying. I also wanted to show that the aggressive commodified start up culture that seems to have been adopted is not the only way to succeed in tech. I think that was the most important message that I was trying to get across.
1 comments
adregan 562 days ago
I thought it came across as genuine and reflected the sentiments of past interviews with I.P. Sharpers without the tint of rose colored glasses (as these interviews were made at the time).

As someone who has spent quite a bit of time in the lousy job market the last two years, the thing that stood out to me most was the philosophy of having an open door and allowing people in to see if they are a good fit (and ultimately allowing them make that decision for themselves). While I’m not sure if the interview-by-light-meter holds up, I can’t say that I feel that tech interviewing, as practiced today, holds up either.

Thank you so much for your work on this, Bob! I’m sure you spent a lot of time on it, and it really shows. Wonderful job.

P.S. Did you happen to come across the article with Professor Weizenbaum that Iverson quotes in the interview with Whitney Smith? I’d love to read it.

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bobterryo 562 days ago
In spite of having the surname Therriault, I have only high school French, but this article would have been about the right time and publication for the Weizenbaum quote. http://referentiel.nouvelobs.com/archives_pdf/OBS0995_198312...

I am not sure where the English translation would be, but being Canadian it would not surprise me if Dr. Iverson was able to translate it himself.

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adregan 562 days ago
The English translation that Iverson mentions was in Harper's magazine. Iverson says it “was a report of an interview with Professor Weizenbaum,” so I’m not sure how complete it is.

In spite of having developed Harper’s first Android application, I no longer have a subscription to the back catalog, but perhaps I can put my library card to use!

Thanks for the link to the French article.

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