A smattering of opinions on technology, books, business, and culture. Now in its 4th technology iteration.
12 June 2012
“Some super smart guys quoted in here”:http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/12/us-microsoft-hiring-interns-idUSBRE85B0L520120612 :)
I actually think the writer nails the longterm issue for Facebook and Google – do you want to spend your career stuffing ads in people’s faces, or do you want to build products that help them do something, that please them, that make them better at their jobs?
When I started my career as a consultant, I worked with super smart people, I was well paid, and I got to engage with senior people in industry, and this was all compelling. But ultimately, I came to view my work product as reports on a wall, that clients might or might not ignore. This massively undervalues the efforts of many consultants, but as a young professional, this is how I perceived it.
And so I took a huge pay cut and responsibility cut and moved to MSFT to work on getting computers into everyone’s hands, that was an exciting challenge and an exciting time. Young people today are just as hungry for a meaningful challenge, and I suspect ad serving is not that challenge for a lot of people.