We call ourselves innovators, but most of us are really just iterators
<i>We call ourselves innovators, but most of us are really just iterators...</i><p>That's a fine line. The most significant innovations are often iterations. (Google comes to mind.)<p><i>Why do we do this? Because we want to get rich, of course.</i><p>I disagree with "Because we want to get rich". And I definitely disagree with "of course". Real hackers do this because we just <i>have to</i>. It just so happens that currently it's also a great way to make money. Many of us hacked long before it was this way and many of us still hack for little or nothing (side projects, open source, etc.)<p><i>But technologists used to work on big problems.</i><p>We still do, probably more than ever. But if you're busy reading Techcrunch and going to conferences and hackathons, you'd probably never know about what the other 99% of us are doing.<p><i>They did it because technology is about improving the human condition...</i><p>There are many ways to do this, all with relative importance. Putting a man on the moon was definitely cool, but so is getting fresh produce to your supermarket (which probably benefits more people). Like a football team, we hackers all do our part in the blocking, tackling, running, throwing, catching, and scoring. It all counts.<p>Just a few of the things I've contributed to in the past few years ("sexy" is in the eye of the beholder):<p><pre><code>  - people get the right prescription medication on time
  - firetrucks and ambulances get to where they're supposed to be
  - parts that go into cars and planes are properly certified
  - prisoners are kept in jail
  - those same prisoners get proper medical care
  - electronic equipment gets assembled properly and on time
  - medical supplies get dispatched to where they're supposed to
  - insurance claims are processed properly
  - quality data is properly maintained for food items</code></pre>