I feel the exact same way, but from the perspective of a researcher. During my high school and undergraduate years I was inspired by stories of researchers at Bell Labs and Xerox PARC who invented so many fundamental technologies and had a profound impact on computing. I was also inspired by the great computers of the past (especially NeXT) and was excited about each and every release of Mac OS X.
Now that I’m more than a decade removed from my undergraduate years, I find myself disillusioned with the state of computing and research these days. Neither Apple nor Microsoft seem to care about pushing personal computing further anymore; it’s about maintaining and strengthening their cash cows. Google, Meta, and Amazon don’t impress me like they did a decade ago, when I used to joyfully study the research papers describing the interesting infrastructure they built. The days of places like Bell Labs and Xerox PARC where researchers generally had free reign to pursue their ideas are long gone; industrial research today is very business-focused, where researchers are required to put the interests of the company ahead of their personal research interests. Academia is no better; the competition is high (especially at research universities), the pay is low (especially at teaching universities), and there are pressures not only to publish regularly, but to raise grant money, which naturally curbs research freedom. This is the world I find myself navigating; I found myself training and striving for a career that no longer exists.
I’m still thinking about long-term plans for me to pursue the type of career that I want despite today’s environment. America’s high cost of living makes FIRE difficult for me unless I decide to “grind Leetcode” and join a FAANG to optimize my compensation, and even that strategy may be obsolete in 2023 due to layoffs and hiring freezes. Alternatively, I’m thinking about one day starting a bootstrapped business, one that is profitable enough to be able to fund my living expenses and to provide healthy wages and benefits for my staff. One day I’ll make enough money to where I can enough savings to be able to pursue my own research projects without having to worry about publish-or-perish pressures or about business matters. I’d like to also teach on the side, though due to low adjunct wages I don’t want to pursue that as my main job.
Now that I’m more than a decade removed from my undergraduate years, I find myself disillusioned with the state of computing and research these days. Neither Apple nor Microsoft seem to care about pushing personal computing further anymore; it’s about maintaining and strengthening their cash cows. Google, Meta, and Amazon don’t impress me like they did a decade ago, when I used to joyfully study the research papers describing the interesting infrastructure they built. The days of places like Bell Labs and Xerox PARC where researchers generally had free reign to pursue their ideas are long gone; industrial research today is very business-focused, where researchers are required to put the interests of the company ahead of their personal research interests. Academia is no better; the competition is high (especially at research universities), the pay is low (especially at teaching universities), and there are pressures not only to publish regularly, but to raise grant money, which naturally curbs research freedom. This is the world I find myself navigating; I found myself training and striving for a career that no longer exists.
I’m still thinking about long-term plans for me to pursue the type of career that I want despite today’s environment. America’s high cost of living makes FIRE difficult for me unless I decide to “grind Leetcode” and join a FAANG to optimize my compensation, and even that strategy may be obsolete in 2023 due to layoffs and hiring freezes. Alternatively, I’m thinking about one day starting a bootstrapped business, one that is profitable enough to be able to fund my living expenses and to provide healthy wages and benefits for my staff. One day I’ll make enough money to where I can enough savings to be able to pursue my own research projects without having to worry about publish-or-perish pressures or about business matters. I’d like to also teach on the side, though due to low adjunct wages I don’t want to pursue that as my main job.