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content/2024/follow-the-hackers/index.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ tags=["culture"]
 
 If you're one of those people who love reading meticulously researched, data-driven analyses of technology adoption trends with carefully balanced viewpoints and zero personal bias... well, you might want to check out an actual research paper, because this blog post has none of that.
 
-What you will find here is a a bunch of personal musings, cheerfully cherry-picked examples, and the kind of sweeping generalizations that would make an economist weep.
+What you will find here is a bunch of personal musings, cheerfully cherry-picked examples, and the kind of sweeping generalizations that would make an economist weep.
 
 But hey, if you're in the mood for some subjective ramblings about future tech trends, and you're willing to take them with a grain of salt, then strap in! Just remember to put on your critical thinking cap before.
 
@@ -26,112 +26,64 @@ These folks are a small subset of the population, but they have some traits that
 - They'd use something even if no one else cared about it
 - They work at the cutting edge, so they need the best tools to do their job
 - They have strong opinions about what's good and what's bad, and can back up their views with facts
-- They don't care about investors, quarterly earnings reports, or politics. They focus on the technology's value.
-
-In recent decades, here are some things these tech enthusiasts were really passionate about in software engineering:
-
-- Linux
-- Containers (Docker)
-- Version Control, namely Git
-- Kubernetes
-
-They were also early adopters of Python, Ruby, Haskell, React, Vue, Node, Redis, VSCode, and Pandas.
-
-Notice a pattern? When hackers got behind a technology, it usually won out.
-
-What's interesting is that there were always plenty of naysayers in the industry:
-
-- Linux: "It's just a hobbyist OS. Use Windows for anything serious"
-- Containers: "We don't need containers. Our services are special; we can't just run them in a container"
-- Git: "What's wrong with FTP or SVN? They work just fine"
-- Kubernetes: "Bare metal is the way to go. We can manage our apps without that."
-
-Enthusiasts don't care about these objections because they clearly see why these technologies are superior
-and how each could bring a 10x improvement in productivity.
-
-{{ figure(src="thumb-guy.jpg") }}
-
-Come along for the ride or don't, the result is always the same: time and again, the hackers are right.
-Don't bet against the hackers.
-
-## Current Trends
-
-So, the obvious question is: what are these people excited about today?
-Rust, Zig, WebAssembly, and Nix are some of the things that come to mind.
-
-And for each of these, there are, once again, plenty of naysayers:
-
-- Rust: "If you can't write secure code in C++, you shouldn't be doing systems programming"
-- Zig: "C is good enough. Its ecosystem is 10x bigger than Zig's"
-- WebAssembly: "We've got JavaScript and Docker. Why do we need this?"
-- Nix: "Reproducible builds? Just delete your node_modules and run npm install again"
-
-It's not limited to software development, either.
-
-Hackers rave about ARM CPUs, Framework laptops, RISC-V, 3D printing, Open
-Source Hardware, Home Automation, and more.
-
-These are all good candidates for mass adoption in the future.
+- They don't care about investors, quarterly earnings reports, or politics. They purely focus on the technology's value.
 
 ## Catalysts For Success And Red Flags
 
 Of course, not every hyped technology makes it big. Remember NFTs or Web3?
 
-One key difference is that nerds weren't truly passionate about these technologies – non-tech people were. 
+One key difference is that hackers weren't truly passionate about these technologies – non-tech people were. 
 Another red flag is when the technology's benefits are hard to explain.
 If hardcore tech people can't explain the benefits to you, that's a bad sign.
-Instead ,there might be other motivations at play!
-
-Another thing to notice is that nerds spend their free time on things they're passionate about.
-If they're not dedicating their spare hours to a technology, that's a red flag.
+Instead, there might be other motivations at play!
 
-It might mean other people are pushing it – and they could have a different agenda.
 Usually, it's people trying to make money from technology.
 They call themselves Investors, "Serial-Entrepreneurs", or "Thought leaders".
 You can spot them by their LinkedIn profiles, which get updated with the latest keywords every 6 months.
-There are a few legit ones, but most are just frauds who couldn't explain the technology if their life depended on it.
-All they care about is getting you to buy into the hype so they can profit.
+There are a few legit ones, but most are opportunists who couldn't explain the technology if their life depended on it.
+All they care about is profit.
 
-The nerds? They don't care what you think about them.
+The hackers? They don't care what you think about them.
 They've got nothing to sell you.
 They're too busy building cool stuff!
-You'd have to drag them away from their keyboards kicking and screaming.
 
-Another factor nerds care about is "who controls the platform"?
+Another factor hackers care about is "who owns the platform"?
 If it's companies, they always have an agenda.
 Invest a ton of time and effort, and they might just lock you out and profit from your work.
-Nerds hate that with a passion.
+Hackers don't like that.
 
-All the winning ideas I mentioned are open source.
+Therefore, all the winning ideas I mentioned are open source.
 If a technology isn't, that's a major red flag when evaluating its future potential.
 It's not even optional anymore – it's pretty much mandatory.
 
-Open source is another catalyst for success:
-Initially, open source projects start as minimally functional versions without much documentation.
+But there's another reason why open source is a catalyst for success:
+Initially, open source projects start as minimally functional versions without user-friendly documentation.
 They might be tough to set up, but the core idea is there.
 If people stick with it despite the lack of hand-holding, you know it's solving a real problem
-and that's a sure sign of a solid business idea.
+and that's a sign of a winning idea.
 
-It can take a while for the general public to catch up with a trend before a technology is ready for prime time.
-Sometimes it's a decade or more, especially for new programming languages or databases.
-If you're not plugged into the tech scene, it's smart to wait until the writing's on the wall.
-
-## How I Use This Information
+## You Still Need Patience 
 
 You probably know I'm all in on Rust.
 After all, I make my living as a Rust consultant.
 It took Rust over a decade of development to gain any real traction in the industry.
 It's been a slow but steady climb.
 
-That's why I usually advise businesses to stay a bit behind the cutting edge when adopting new tech.
+It can take a while for the general public to catch up with a trend before a technology is ready for prime time.
+Sometimes it's a decade or more, especially for core technology like new programming languages or databases.
+That's just the time it takes for technology to mature.
+
+That's why I usually advise founders to stay a bit behind the cutting edge when adopting new tech.
 The industry needs time to catch up, and big companies need specialized tools to integrate new tech into their development process.
-But it's a calculated risk. I see a steady stream of new projects coming in, and I'm confident Rust will be a big part of the future.
+But it's a calculated risk because the writing is on the wall.
 
 ## What Can You Learn From This?
 
-Nerds are already living in the future.
+Hackers are already living in the future.
 You can use that to your advantage.
-Ask 10 nerds what new things they're excited about, and you'll get a good idea of what's going to be important down the road.
-The tricky part is that it takes one to know one. 
-Not everyone rubs elbows with nerds regularly. That's a missed opportunity, because these folks love nothing more than talking about their passions.
-The key is to really listen to what they're saying.
+Ask 10 tech enthusiasts what new things they're excited about, and you'll get a good idea of what's going to be important in a few years.
+
+Unfortunately, business people don't talk to hackers regularly. That's a missed opportunity, because these folks love nothing more than talking about their passions.
+
+If you're selling to developers ([and you probably shouldn't](/2024/selling-to-developers/)),
+the key is to really listen to what they're saying and then following their lead.