Comment by galangalalgol
1 day ago
I started programming at 5, making it do what I wanted it to provided dopamine. I never found a sport I enjoyed. I do like painting though. I doubt very many people get into sanitation because they love making toilets clean, but even there I'm sure a few do. Before 2000 I think it was pretty normal for people to select software as a career without considering the compensation as a factor. It wasn't excessively better than other similar choices for one.
> Before 2000
The salary expectations exploded when the VC/PE-bobos went into the space and started "build-and-sell-high".
Sure there were Billionairs made before tech & internet, but public was not aware of most such transactions.
And that never changed salaries nearly as much in games, embedded, or outside the us. I never worked in any software position adjacent to the online economy, so I never saw any of those wacky salaries.