There is always something new on the horizon. Sometimes it hits you upside the head like a brick, other times it subtly makes its way in the backdoor. If you’re not one of the people that have stroke, which I’m not, you’re on the receiving side of the shift - meaning you read about on your favorite blog or magazine. Then you go, “oh shit, is that’s what’s coming next? I better get a move on it.”
The problem is, when this happens you are just getting comfortable with (what was) the previous shift in technology. For some reason, I have a lot of trouble not getting excited and diving into the new shift.
I get all happy with what I’m creating and how I go about creating it, then kablooey, someone comes up with a good idea and changes how we all have to do things. Do I have to change? No. But if the new way makes sense, it makes sense - there’s no reason to fight it.
Unfortunately, this keeps me in what seems to be an infinite loop of do and redo. The curse of programming (which is just turning written text into moving parts) is it is easy to redo because there is no physical overhead in doing it.
You build a new house with blueprints. You get your house designed with all the little nooks and crannies you like and have it built. But then you see something at someone else’s house and want it because their way makes more sense to you. But with a house, you can’t just tear it down and start over - you could, but the expense and hassle is not worth it. But imagine the house you would have in the end…essentially perfection, well…almost. You can’t reach perfection, you can only reduce the number of imperfections to as few as possible, though never reaching zero.
In my world I make a lot of the tools used to build programs and web sites. Sure, I use some things other people have made, but I usually change them around and build myself a nice base set of tools to work with - a framework. I get it just right and start building with it. I get one or two products made and then something else pops up, or heaven forbid I read and find a new method that makes a lot of sense. I evaluate my framework and refactor - that is, seeing where I can add, move, and remove pieces and parts to make an even better framework, thus allowing the creation of even better products.
You can see where the loop starts to set in. And all this trouble from reading. I knew reading was dangerous.
In most cases changing for a better future is good. And it is good, but the reason for my loop is the lack of mates - that being people that do what I do. The Lone Ranger act is starting to be more of a hindrance than a benefit.
The good thing to being the only sheriff in town is I can change on the fly, which keeps me lean and flexible to anything thrown at me. But as I detailed above, it is counterproductive to the ultimate goal - making things for people. I never get there because I’m working towards the next level.
Reading and demo-ing, I get idea after idea for products to sell and even just products for myself (which may end up going public), but they always die midstream because by tool sets have to be rebuilt each time to account for new methods and technology.
My character seems to be unable to break the loop. And I’m not exactly sure how to about embracing the loop, structuring the loop, or even breaking free from the loop.
