What Jonathan Coulton Learned From The Technology Industry (geekwire.com) 88
In a new article on GeekWire, Jonathan Coulton explains why he left a comfortable software development job in 2005 to launch a career as an online singer-songwriter. But he also describes the things he learned from the tech industry.
"These guys were doing this thing they wanted to do, this thing they felt competent doing. They didn't chase after things, and they worked hard, but it was a business they created because they enjoyed it. They tried to minimize the things they didn't want to do. It wasn't about getting rich; it was about getting satisfied...
"I wanted to a set a good example to my children. I wanted to be the person I wanted to be, someone willing to take chances -- a person who didn't live with enormous regrets..." Within the first year, he had not replaced his software salary, but had enough success to cover his babysitter and to keep food on the table.
When he was younger -- in the pre-internet days -- "It was very unclear how to become a musician," Coulton explains. But somehow rolling his own career path eventually led to a life which includes everything from guest appearances on radio shows to an annual cruise with his fans (this year featuring Aimee Mann, Wil Wheaton, and Redshirts author John Scalzi).
"I wanted to a set a good example to my children. I wanted to be the person I wanted to be, someone willing to take chances -- a person who didn't live with enormous regrets..." Within the first year, he had not replaced his software salary, but had enough success to cover his babysitter and to keep food on the table.
When he was younger -- in the pre-internet days -- "It was very unclear how to become a musician," Coulton explains. But somehow rolling his own career path eventually led to a life which includes everything from guest appearances on radio shows to an annual cruise with his fans (this year featuring Aimee Mann, Wil Wheaton, and Redshirts author John Scalzi).
I'm making a note here (Score:5, Funny)
huge success.
Re:I'm making a note here (Score:5, Insightful)
"Mediocre" Artists who have written the theme song (and geek anthem) of two of the biggest puzzle games of all time ? Who is a regular at geek events ? And who is pretty much the model for Indie Music Publishing ?
Seriously, if you don't recognize Jonathan Coulton, you need to turn in your geek card. . .
Re: I'm making a note here (Score:1)
Geeks don't know of every geek niche.
For the record, I've played and beaten both Portal games twice, and still don't know who this guy is. I don't care to read the credits at the end.
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The credits are one of the best highlights of the games (well, Portal 1 specifically).
Shit the credit sequence in Portal 1 is pretty damn famous, famous enough to have several YouTube recordings of it. How you missed this I don't understand. I suspect you just don't care enough about the games you play. Treat them as disposable, not the art they often are, eh? Fuckwit.
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And most people don't interest me, so we're equal, Herbert. . .
Dating myself here. . . (Score:2)
. . . .but I remember the test of the Geekiest of the Geeks: did you attend an "@Party" at a convention in the early-mid 1990s.
@ Parties were events where everyone had an email address. LONG before the rise of USENET, the Green Card Spam, and the AOLization of the Net. . .
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You're not just dating yourself but also revealing your fading memory.
Early-mid 1990s is not LONG before the rise of USENET. It's after the rise of USENET. It's the beginning of the eternal September, the peak and start of the downfall of USENET.
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We can't all ID all of the one-hit-wonders.
Re:I'm making a note here (Score:5, Interesting)
Life is like D&D.
If you work hard add + 3
If you have passion add + 2
If you have advanced education + 1
If you have gotton education in that area + 1
Are you willing to make additional sacrifices to your life (you will get a chance to reroll after each sacrifice)
Now roll the dice. 10 or higher you succeed. 18 or higher you are successful, natural 20 Critical success you roll a natural 1 you automatically fail badly.
Re:I'm making a note here (Score:4, Interesting)
I like that analogy a lot. There's a careful balance between inculcating into my children that hard work, study, etc. is necessary, but also letting them know that it's not a guarantee. You also need some luck, but less of it, the harder you work. Hopefully it means that they won't feel betrayed in areas where they "do all the right things" but don't get the appropriate reward.
Or as I've told them:
Most of my success has depended on luck, but it's amazing how the harder I worked at something, the luckier I was.
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> it's amazing how the harder I worked at something, the luckier I was.
My favorite saying: "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity." (Seneca the Younger) The more you think about it, the more you realize how true it is. Short of finding cash or winning the lottery, almost all "luck" is when something good comes your way and you're in a position to take advantage of it.
Or, if you're a fan of Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) (or Louis Pasteur), "Chance favors the prepared mind."
Wrong on almost all of that (Score:2)
If you are from a poor background add 2, because you have fewer distractions, because to get cool devices or games or whatever, you have to earn money to get them, they are not handed to you...
I know, because I grew up in a family with very little money.
If you are a minority or woman, add three because there are SO MANY resources around now to help you specifically, and you are a guaranteed hire if you know anything at all. I have seen this in action with multiple friends and family, across many different
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Don't forget the negative modifiers... If you are poor/from a poor background subtract 1 If you are a disadvantaged minority -1 If you are a woman -1 If you get sick -3
"Disadvantaged minority" isn't what most think. In fields with very few of X, where X is a government sponsored class, you definitely get a +5. Although we hear about white privilege the reality is that the ever hated white male gets exactly zero help while the rest get some form of advantage. The most extreme case I heard of first hand was a black speech therapist that a friend worked with. Not many of those I can assure you. She was able to openly sit and do nothing at work with zero consequence and
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I would say give it A plus 10 modifier.
You can still ctritically fail. Rich family will not give you any money. Spend your childhood/young adult on a hedonistic drug bender and get disowned by the family.
Re: Who cares? (Score:1)
Be nice, Meanie.
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is there any article that Slashdot commenters can't turn into a shitshow of ignorance? no? ok. what a pathetic hole this place has become.
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The songs he wrote and performed for Portal 1 and 2 were excellent. I know you are aiming for humor, but he's a genuinely talented musician and songwriter.
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Various combat flight sims. Have a soft spot for TA:Kingdoms though it's a bugger to get it working on anything newer than XP.
New Model Army, Pink Floyd, Ayreon.
Don't know how relevant it is to the fact in hand, though. Are you going to tell me they're mainstream or something?
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Informative)
In case you are serious:
Look up the following coulton songs on youtube/spotify/whatever
re: your brain
code monkey
skullcrusher mountain
Still alive
(And for something sweet and cute: drinking with you, his most underrated song ever).
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More importantly, he doesn't hate his job. Whereas I stuck with my IT career and am completely miserable, but have a very safe income.
Problem with stories like Coulton's is that for every one like him who found some measure of success, there are dozens of failures living on a couch in a dank basement just a hairs breadth from homelessness and starvation. The "follow your dreams" crowd suffers significantly from survivor bias.
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No, but the Big Bang Theory is.
One thing I've learned (Score:5, Insightful)
Anything you really put your heart into, you're going to be at least good enough to get by. It doesn't take much to stand out from a crowd of people who only do their job. This may sound trivial, but it honestly took me a long time to understand this. I'm not a social person, so getting attention for anything I do always weirds me out, to the point where I interpret it as sarcasm. But there's definitely a pattern: Do something you really care about and people do take note, and that's all it takes.
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Interesting idea. I'd say this would be true when you are engaging with people face-to-face. On the internet, you can pour your heart and soul into something, and receive little or no reward or recognition. The last internet-based company I worked for bombed spectacularly, and I knew that no matter how much I put into my work, it couldn't help save the business.
My life would probably be significantly more enjoyable if I spent less time on the internet. It's a lazy habit that's hard for me to break.
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"Anything you really put your heart into, you're going to be at least good enough to get by"
Many people in the music business have ended up having to go back to their day jobs.
Whilst to be successful putting your heart into it is advantageous doing something people want to hear and knowing how to run business (or knowing to know people to do it are pretty important too.
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Anything you really put your heart into, you're going to be at least good enough to get by.
A lot of those useless degrees we joke about (art history anyone) depend on people believing this lie, unless by "get by" you mean minimum wage.
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He generally hangs out with some pretty famous geeky icons... did the name dropping in the summary not get your attention? People attending his cruise this year: "Aimee Mann, Wil Wheaton, and Redshirts author John Scalzi"
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Seriously, are we all supposed to know about him? A short summary about who he is, and why his opinion is relevant for us couldn't have hurt.
The summary pretty well sums things up: "In a new article on GeekWire, Jonathan Coulton explains why he left a comfortable software development job in 2005 to launch a career as an online singer-songwriter."
Outlier succeeds, news at 11 (Score:2, Interesting)
Yes, he quit his job and found success in another field, good for him. However, most who leave lucrative positions do NOT improve their financial position by following their dreams.
A better, more realilistic article would be someone leaving the software industry, failing, but finding happiness in the pursuit anyway.
Re:Outlier succeeds, news at 11 (Score:4, Insightful)
This is the problem with taking advice from successful people: it's tainted by self-selection bias. It's obvious that making a lot of money doing something you love is a good way to live, but it's also obvious that this is impossible for most people. However, nobody interviews the mediocre majority, we only interview the outliers who have successfully followed their dreams. I suppose it gives us hope that we could have been happy and successful if only we had followed our dreams, without having to actually test that hypothesis.
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> This is the problem with taking advice from successful people: it's tainted by self-selection bias.
+1,000,000. I know plenty of people who have "followed their dreams" to varying extents and they aren't doing that well.
Meanwhile, I've given up most of my dreams and I'm getting by OK. :-/ (Only half kidding.)
I had no idea who Jonathon was... (Score:1)
Who pays to hear that crap ?
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The same can be said for just about any music genre. It's not your mainstream pop, nor some jazz great. It sure as hell isn't classical. It's one of the comedy/social commentary genres where the interest is more in the lyrics than in the vocal prowess of the lead singer (or the ability of an engineer to autotune the lead singer into the perfection we've grown accustomed to). Go back and look at the successful social commentary singers of the 1960s to see a somewhat similar type of music. Tom Lehrer was one
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Great to hear (Score:1)
As a (very) amateur musician with an IT day job, it's good to hear somebody similar made it a success. (I'm a studio guy, not a stage performer.)