Create, not educate
When I talk to college kids today, I try to discourage them from studying computers.
It's not because i don't think that computers are important now and in the future, because I do. It's because I don't think that the world needs a couple of million more computer majors. Business doesn't require hard core computer expertise in every department the way that it did ten years ago.
What matters the most now is creativity. Marketing is way more important than engineering. It's all about applied technology, figuring out what the next killer app or service is, than inventing the underlying technology. Sure, someone needs to innovate the tech, but not that many people are needed and can do that kind of research. That job is best for the uber computer geeks.
Being able to write and speak, having the creative spark necessary to come up with a new kind of commercial or ad--the liberal arts--that's what's important. That's what business needs more of. And those are going to be the people who get the best jobs in applied technology.
Posted on June 21, 2006
