Age Discrimination

Read a blurb on LinkedIn about the perils of age discrimination in the tech industry. Seems that companies do not want to pay a senior developer $150k if they can get a fresh college grad ofr $60k. There are multiple reasons behind this trend. The youngsters are thought of as possessing skills in the hot technologies. Plus they can be counted on to burn the midnight oil to get stuff done. Plus they cost a whole lot less, right?

What is an aging developer to do? Go into management. Gray beard in management is a benefit. Or you could try to stay current in your skills. That is tough. But you need to in order to stay competitive. You could also become a consultant. Or better yet, start up your own business. That way you are the boss. You would not discriminate against yourself, would you?

Return on Investment


Recently I needed to purchase four copies of a hardback book. Naturally I went to Amazon. The total cost was around $50. That seemed a bit pricey. I searched around and found that I could probably get the books for half that amount. You would think it would be a no brainer, right? Choose the less costly option.

But first I decided to think back on what Amazon had done for me recently. I surely had downloaded a lot of free books from them. Most of them I enjoyed immensely. Now these were electronic books. Then I also recalled that I had purchased some non-free electronic books by mistake. Amazon served me well by immediately crediting back the amounts, no questions asked.

So what was I to do? I definintely want Amazon to continue providing me with all this value. And though I did not actually owe them any money from all their goodwill, I did feel obligated to return the many favors they have done me. That's how business is done. Treat me right all the time, and I will give you my business, even if you are not the cheapest option in town.