I used to be an actor, but programming jobs are easier to come by. I've been doing this now for 11 years. I focus on pixels and experience, especially on iOS and the web.
Reading these two articles you linked to, @ben
, provoked a lot of thoughts about how we even define "blue collar" work - let me try and break them down and then I'll post my own thoughts in a separate comment:
Coming from an area where blue and white collar careers were both common, I've heard @stereobooster's point of view that blue collar work is a "job which requires low training (at least up front)... or people who get into complicated situation or lost their previous job" repeated a lot in my life. I disagree strongly with this point of view because I think it cheapens the level of knowledge and skill required to take on these jobs. A farmer with no knowledge will not produce a crop, and you sure don't want to hire an electrician or a plumber who just lost their job in an unrelated field and hasn't gotten any advance training. So, while I think this stereotype is common (and, humorously, actually an accurate description for software engineering these days), I view it as inaccurate for blue collar work.
@bananabrann's article was very thought provoking and I think there's a lot to be gleaned from his idea of blue collar work and software engineering holding a shared future where you "reap the fruit of your own labor your skills and improvement must be accountable by only yourself." Using his definition, I think software engineering is totally moving towards blue collar work and will, indeed, benefit from doing so. I wish I interacted with more SWEs who treated their code as a house that must be maintained instead of an ethereal object that can be stood up once and remain perfect forever without maintenance.
Now, for my own thoughts, I'll post those separately.
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Reading these two articles you linked to, @ben , provoked a lot of thoughts about how we even define "blue collar" work - let me try and break them down and then I'll post my own thoughts in a separate comment:
Coming from an area where blue and white collar careers were both common, I've heard @stereobooster's point of view that blue collar work is a "job which requires low training (at least up front)... or people who get into complicated situation or lost their previous job" repeated a lot in my life. I disagree strongly with this point of view because I think it cheapens the level of knowledge and skill required to take on these jobs. A farmer with no knowledge will not produce a crop, and you sure don't want to hire an electrician or a plumber who just lost their job in an unrelated field and hasn't gotten any advance training. So, while I think this stereotype is common (and, humorously, actually an accurate description for software engineering these days), I view it as inaccurate for blue collar work.
@bananabrann's article was very thought provoking and I think there's a lot to be gleaned from his idea of blue collar work and software engineering holding a shared future where you "reap the fruit of your own labor your skills and improvement must be accountable by only yourself." Using his definition, I think software engineering is totally moving towards blue collar work and will, indeed, benefit from doing so. I wish I interacted with more SWEs who treated their code as a house that must be maintained instead of an ethereal object that can be stood up once and remain perfect forever without maintenance.
Now, for my own thoughts, I'll post those separately.