Why do good engineers work for bad companies?

Time for *gasp* another post again. I've had tons of things to blog about, yet none I have written down. But now it's time again. The basic idea is that the majority of developers out there seem to be quite frankly bad engineers. They don't care about neither the art nor the product. They are there for the money and honestly could care less. It is not them that I am going to discuss today, I will leave them be to fend for themselves. The group I am interested in is the good engineers. So what the heck do I think is a good engineer then? Let's see.

A good engineer cares about the art, about state of the art, and balances that with the product to find a sweet spot where you are proud of what you have achieved. A good product by good engineering. It has a certain beauty, a certain simplicity and ingenuity. It serves a purpose and does it well. All good engineers have an idea of this, even if it differs from person to person exactly how to achieve it and what the end result should be. So let's focus on these good engineers, those who make a difference.

Next let's define, for the sake of my ramblings, a bad company. A bad company is led by those who do not know nor understand the product they are making. They are very much in it for the money. They might be bad, they might pay good, but they do not care about what the engineers think. More often than not the care more about getting corporate jets, mistresses, reenacting German dungeon porn, living in luxury, shorting schedules, make wild claims, change the product, and put their noses where they do not belong. Simple a pretty crappy environment for a good engineer.

So why do these good engineers work at companies that really only destroys the chances to make great products? We all know the companies, so I won't start to enumerate the worst cases even. I have a few theories. One is the money/laziness theory. They stay because they are good engineers, but lazy. They stay for the money and they don't want to move. They might be bad at getting connections to get new jobs. Basically they need a kick in the butt to vacate the bad company and move on.

Next we have the ones that care about the product and wants to make it great. They are filled with ideas and good engineering principles and knows how to do the right thing™. Management on the other hand do not and constantly tries to save a quick buck and ends up with a much worse product. They have impossible short schedules and requirements from hell. The engineer on the other hand really want the product to be great, so they stay and fights management and turns more and more bitter and jaded. This category of engineers needs to realize that things are never going to change for the better at a company like this, or the chances of it happening are very slim. For every Apple rising out of the ashes there are tons of companies that do not. Again these engineers need to jump ship and move on!

Those are my two, to date, theories. I am sure there are other theories and I am very interested in them, so you have to tell me:)

Oh, and I almost forgot something, you have to make money after you have left the bad company. So how to find a good company? Really research what the board of directors is up to, make sure the company really knows what they are doing, talk to their engineers to see if they are jaded and bitter or energetic and hopeful. Don't sell yourself to a bad company again!

The other option (besides your parents basement, cold pizza, and the lamest computer game on earth all day) is to have an idea you believe in and start your own business, and only hire good engineers (leave the bad ones to the bad companies...). Probably harder, but the rewards all the sweeter!

Good luck all good engineers and let the comments in :)

New Look, and... the iPhone!

First of all, the new look introduced with the iPhone, and then moved over to the iMacs, will it move over to the laptops and screens as well? You know the one with the black around the LCD. I am quite curious about it. I would have imagined tons of MacBooks turned aluminum with iMacish look to have been photoshopped and featured in every single Mac related news collector. Strangely this haven't happened.

One thing I do hope though is the return of more colors. I so would like a blue or green MacBook myself. White is a bit sterile, black is awful, and the brushed aluminum thing isn't really my thing. I like colors. I really do miss the transparent plastic iMac look. Same with the PowerMacs. I crave more color.

Which just reminded me of something different. How come PC cases are so awful? Just about all of them are really awfully looking, and none look really good. You'd think there would be a market out there, or could it be that simply nobody with the capital out there cares at all about the customers?

Now to the iPhone. There has been more written about it than what I care to ever read. Ever. Way too much from people with zero clue about what they are talking about. So with that in mind, why the heck will I write about it as well? Well, first of all I do have a clue. Second of all I do think that I might actually have a point to make.

I think that the locked down state of the v1.0 of the iPhone makes a lot of sense. Making a security model for a mobile device is not at all the same as making one for a computer. OS X is a computer OS. It makes a lot of sense to have 3rd party applications, but not if they can screw your iPhone over really easy, and the iPhone is a much better target for viruses and malware than a Mac is.

The iPhone is an appliance, just as your microwave. You are not suppose to hack it, open it up, or fiddle around with it. It doesn't try to be the perfect device for everyone, but rather to be the perfect device in itself. If you try to put everyones favorite functionality into it it will burst out of it seams and turn into every other horrible mess of too much features. People are upset because their special piece of functionality isn't there. They want it to do things it doesn't. They wished that it was a computer, a Newton, a PocketPC device made by Apple, etc.

They are all obviously going to be disappointed. The iPhone is just an iPhone. An iPod you can call and SMS with, especially now with the iPod touch released. But that is what makes it so great. It really is an appliance. It really doesn't need to do more. You don't want games in your microwave now do you?

But what I do find interesting is that there is more internet buzz about something you shouldn't be able to do, 3rd party iPhone apps, than something you can do, 3rd party apps for all the other mobile devices out there. Maybe, just maybe, they are screw enough to build up a need this way. It reeks WAY too much of conspiracy theories. But remember what they say, just because you are Paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you...

Discoveries

I wonder how many little nifty things that I have missed in OS X. Now and then I find some pretty darn nifty stuff, just out of nowhere really. Today's uncovered gem is one quite simple little thing. I happened to press Command when clicking on the titlebar (whatever is that called in Apple speak? I seem to never know:) ) on a Quicktime window I noticed a little drop down. Funny thing, it actually showed where the file I was playing was, and then each consecutive item was one folder closer to the root.

I gingerly tried it in a few other apps, some didn't react, but the finder sure did, and so did Safari. Very very nifty indeed. So the question I am asking myself is, am I really using OS X to its fullest potential? What other really useful little tidbits am I missing out on? I want to know, I crave the knowledge engraved on long lost tablets, the wisdom in tomes of dark magic, and quite possibly that nice page Apple page (http://www.apple.com/pro).

I think that I am just going to post the little interesting hidden features I find along the ride. So stay tuned, but don't hold your breath :)

The cult of white

What is up with me and white plastics? Have I fallen in love with the 60s all over again? Surely not, I hate the look of industrial design from back then. But I like white plastics, because I have a lot of electronics in white plastic. I have my trust macbook (and I secretly wish they made 15.4" macbooks with all the goodies from a macbook pro, but with the design of the macbook, in white, not freaking fugly black!). I have the white Sony Ericsson M600i and I wish they could have kept the look for the P1i, because it is metallic and black.

Let's go on. Did I pick a black or a pink Nintendo DS (awsome gaming machine!), noooo. I promptly went for the white one. White plastic covering really entertaining electronics. Nice clean design. Same goes with the iPod on its way to yours truly. White. Found the pattern yet? But it might just be that I don't want things in black. I don't like the black HP at work for instance. It's not nice looking at all.

I do love the look on the iPod mini, I would love a green or blue macbook pro. Or a green or blue plastic macbook. But since I have the white macbook it seems like I am drawn towards the same look in other devices.

Which leads me to the iMac. Nice new design and all, but I am looking forward to the next *BIG* change in design from Apple. I honestly miss the first iMac and the old PowerMacs. I like that they are colorful and fun. Is the mac turning too serious? Too Pro? Maybe. We'll see what happens next:)

Surround me!

Now to a subject that interests me and warms my heart. Surround sound. I will limit myself to two narrow fields, OS X support for it, and Apple hardware support for it. Everything else around it just have to wait for another day. Maybe one glorious day I will own a new surround sound home cinema. But those dreams are for another day, and another blog entry.

First up software. The state in general is appalling. It is the same with other OSes, with really no properly integrated solution anywhere to be seen. So what the heck do I mean then? You get all sorts of magical software included with your sound card, and maybe even something with your surround capable motherboard. You can get certain applications to actually output surround sound. For instance quicktime plays trailers in surround on my PC just nice and fine.

So what the heck is all the fuzz about? Well, I do not like bundled applications, and I haven't even seen any for the mac, and quite frankly, I do not want them. I want Apple to integrate the idea of surround sound into the platform. I refuse to believe that it could be that big of a deal, and it would set one single standard for users to understand.

This would mean standards for surround sound in games (core audio probably can do quite a bit, but there are certainly more to do). Nice settings in preference for setting levels, how certain codecs should be handled, if any automatic stereo to surround conversation should be done (doing this in Windows XP with a Create sound card is just plain insane, just so you know!). I'll leave it up to you, my very few readers, to connect the dots.

Next up, probably easier to discuss, is hardware. I do no like analog cables, and I do not like S/PDIF either. Apple has now killed off the floppy, the PS/2 connectors, and so on. Why not kill this old beast once and for all and introduce HDMI (1.3+ implementing *everything*) to all your computers? The argument is the same for any standards following HDMI (display port etc).

So why do that? Apart from making it a breeze to connect Apples to modern TVs one could use that connection to connect the sound into a receiver or into an integrated surround sound system with its own D/A converter. Nice and clean and do not need to be slaves to DD/DTS has 8 channels of uncompressed sound will take us quite far.

There, that is my little rant about surround sound on the Mac. It has bugged me for a very long time now, and I wish that Apple could continue their push to eliminate old connectors that doesn't deserve to live, as well as old technology that no longer makes any sense. That's all for this time folks!

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. What the heck does *that* have to do with anything? Well, for starter's it's called "Den elaka kocken" in Swedish, and I see no reason to call it "The mean chef" really. The guy is not at all mean. In fact, he really does these people a kindness others have never before shown them. He tells them the truth about themselves and what they are doing, he gives them perspective, insight, and help. But again, what is this all about? John! You scream, why-ever would you bring up a TV show in your blog? Well, let's get ready for a ride.

The basic idea of the show is that Mr Ramsay is suppose to help a restaurant and its owner get back on track. The thing is, apparently, the owners and staff doesn't always seem to get out of their established, and quite frightfully bad, ways of doing things. They oppose the quite sound advice of someone who clearly has succeeded better than they. The bright lot of you should by now have an idea where I am going with this. And if not, good luck at the show when you can. It was quite entertaining:)

So, does this sound familiar? Can you draw some parallels with another certain industry? Yes you can. Countless are the times I've had to endure a young whippersnapper trying to tell me that I am wrong about it all and that surely isn't right and you should just chucked all of that stuff out and I know that this and that technology is useless and this other one surely is the way to go, blah blah blah. You know the drill, right? I've got nothing against new ideas, nor being proven wrong. But step one will always be to gain my respect. Listening to someone with more experience than yourself, and take in what she or he says, before starting to complain and wanting to change things, are a good way to to gain my respect. So is proving that you yourself has experience and talent.

But I got side tracked (blog, why blog, why not webbump? web brain dump:) ). The idea stuck me while I was watching the show. This is exactly what a lot of software companies need. They are going about making software in the complete wrong way, and no languages, development philosophies, nor restructures can help me. Hiring even more people will definitely screw them over. So what do they need? They need someone to come in, open up their eyes, and give them some tough love, some sour medicine, some understanding of what they do, and most importantly of it all. Guidance and help to bring them onto the right track again.

I don't want to lessen what Mr Ramsay does in his show, but getting a bunch of Grinch like software engineers to see the error of their ways is seldom an easy task. Nor is it to upset a bunch of frighten school children, I mean managers, nor a number of Scrooge McDuck copies in upper management. Especially from the inside. It is an eternal uphill battle, fought tooth and nail from a position of close to no power, with the only tools to your disposal being your perseverance and your believe in there being a better way.

Not that this is anything new under the sun, but that show just really hit a note in me. What if one would do exactly that, but in a software company? I think that it would be totally great, and oddly enough, I would want to do it. I could imagine myself being that very person, going in there, screaming and muttering and pointing things out, only to have people miss me when they understand how much better it can be. How stress, missing bits and pieces, chaos, and a lack of fulfillment doesn't need to be the standard operating procedure in a company.

So with this, slightly confused professor like, rant I will leave you to think, comment, and maybe blog yourself, on this very broad subject. It is not just what you do, but how you do it!

Now I have a MacBook. Ho ho ho.

Yes, I have a mac now. I am an Apple fanboy. I have yet again fallen. Maybe a short computer story is what is needed here. Once upon a time my father bought me a Commodore 128 computer. It was a pretty expensive toy to be honest, but boy did I love that computer. I stayed with the (later on) ill fated C= gang and upgraded to an Amiga 500 and then an Amiga 1200. I really liked the Amiga, and found it to be a lot of fun, and a heck of a lot nicer than any other computer that I came into contact with back then.

But all good things seem to end, so C= went belly up and I decided to get a PC. A Pentium 90. What a beast:) Windows 95 was such a bugger that I switched to Linux for a year or two. But Linux ended up tiring me out, it was just thing after thing that had to be upgraded or fixed and mucked around with. No fun at all after a while! So the next computer, a dual P200mmx was set up to run NT 4, which was a total blessing compared to Linux and win95. I never ever used win98/me, which I am still happy about:)

Things went on in the same manner, with an upgrade to Windows 2000 and then XP. With a new 1.4Ghz Athlon and then an Athlon 64 3500+. Everything looked like the next step would be the much talked about Longhorn. But it took time, and Vista, well because of Vista I upgraded Windows XP to MacOS X instead. Which is something I am very happy about.

So the next computer became the very first laptop. A MacBook with 2GBs of RAM and a dual core 2.0Ghz CPU. It is nice, very nice. By far the best looking computer I have ever owned, and the fastest as well. Well, the GFX is more than likely slower than the nVidia 6600GT in the (very loud) PC just next to me here, but the CPU is way faster, and the OS, the OS is what makes things happen. MacOS X is way better than Vista. Leopard here I come!

And today I bought something for my mac, a new screen. Well, it is both the PCs and the Macs new screen. But the mac, well, it loves the new screen. 1680x1050 is a lot nicer than 1280x800, and quite frankly, I want a stationary mac now. And an iPod, and an iPhone. I haven't liked my computer this much since the C= days to be honest. I belong again, I am happy about my computer even if it has little things about it that sure isn't perfect. Heck, even big things that are wrong. But there has to be something for them to put into MacOS 0x0B after all :)

Probably should mention that I also have a mac keyboard. Which is nice, well, but only a little nice, because it is far from as ergonomic as the natural keyboards. It is just that they look like crap. So pain in my hands or pain in my eyes? Jonathan Ives, come here at once, fix me a keyboard please! I beg of thee!!!