Coming from Marc Andreessen, it’s worth a read.
Seems kind of over-the-top to me, but he does have a point.
Maybe the pessimism he sees all around is because so many of ‘them’ feel increasingly left out, and it scares them?
This is like the modern day Steve Ballmer “DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, …”
Here is a (slightly NSFW) retort:
So why bother writing it all out, especially as a 5,000-word statement of purpose placed on the front page of your website? One obvious reason is marketing.
Marketing and attention for sure. I like the manifesto, but the timing indicates it might be written out of desperation. I keep reading about startups failing, high interest rates, etc. Cloud profits down.
This might be a simple coincidence with the current economic cycle (edit: because the sentiment in the Andreseen blog post is nothing new).
But yes, the marketing efforts of a single person/company should be clearly distinct from the developer’s interests, IMO.
There is a large codependence between start-ups and the venture capitalists.
So when when you read the punchline at the end:
It’s time to be a Techno-Optimist.
It’s time to build.
The first thing that comes to mind is the VC’s are in trouble, start-ups are floundering, and lots of somethings need to be created and monetized for the whole thing to sustain itself.
I’m not so sure. Like the Koch bros (although not necessarily from the same politics), I think he is playing a longer-term cultural/philosophical-warfare game here.
Marc Andreessen, briefly:
I love the nine tenths of the law that defends my property rights without regard for injustice, but I really hate that other tenth.
In all seriousness, it’s an idiotic article. The man doesn’t seem to realise that regulatory law is also a technology.
Is totaly possible write the truth for selfish goals.
The Manifest in one thing and the autor intentions behind is other thing.
If I discovery the cure of cancer because i have the intention to be the new secretary of the WHO my discovery still saving lifes besides my selfish intentions.
For me the Manifest is a really good philosophical view about the technology and the society.