I recently read an article that described what life was like working in tech. This got me thinking, is there anyone who doesn’t work in tech and what does working in tech even mean?
While we may not all be regarded as working in tech, we definitely all work with it. No matter your job, your business or your day to day activities we are all largely surrounded by some sort of technology. While your core activities may not be building or selling a technical product or service, I’ll bet that there is some kind of tech involved in the way the you go about getting this done.
The use and advancements of technology are only going to continue to grow and we will very well be left behind if we don’t keep up. Web apps and other technical products like our smartphones have become a necessity in our day to day lives and are now just taken for granted. But, how many of us stop to think about the work that went into these products and how they came about? Most of us don’t really care as long as we have them and they don’t fail on us. Is using this technology enough or should we be doing more to understand and appreciate where this technology comes from and the work that goes into making it?
So, what exactly is a tech person?
What I find interesting is that those claiming to work in tech don’t necessarily know how to how to write a single line of code, build products or do any of the design work in creating a technical product.
If we can work in a tech company, but not know how to produce anything technical are we actually working in tech? And whether we work in tech or not, we continually use the products coming out of tech companies, so shouldn’t we know more about it?
My story
I am frustrated at how little I knew about how things I used in my day-to-day life worked, and how easily I could blame someone when things went wrong. I had no idea what was happening on the back-end of a website or what code went into any products I used. These are things I took for granted.
With these products only becoming more a part of our lives, I think it is super important for us to stop and take the time to investigate a little deeper what is going on when we are going about our daily lives, and appreciate the problem solving, knowledge and work that goes into the products we use.
While I work for a tech company, I have a lot to learn before I would consider myself a person working in tech. Being surrounded by developers and helping others learn has opened my eyes to how little I knew, but I love that we’re doing our bit to help to educate others. Our InstallFest and Development Hub initiatives have truly enlightened me, and I’m sure they have expanded the minds of the hundreds of others who have participated in them.
We’ll soon be launching another free initiative to help you understand the web development process, so stay tuned!
Next time you open up an app or web page, take the time to think about how it actually works, and if you can’t figure it out, it might be time to learn!
