I am 58 and can relate to pretty much everything the author wrote, but especially this:<p><pre><code>    computer programs are now monstrosities of large numbers 
    of layers of libraries cobbled together to create ever 
    more slickly polished user interfaces showing ever more 
    inane content and advertising.
</code></pre>
I find it difficult to stay motivated to write software these days, for a few reasons. First, there are specialties. Years ago, you could be a generalist, and be useful writing software pretty much anywhere. And I&#x27;m not talking about just learning the latest fad language or framework. If you don&#x27;t have a long background in neural nets, or transaction processing, or compilers, or you name it, you aren&#x27;t going to be doing work that is <i>both</i> useful and interesting.<p>Second, as the author says, programming these days is often just taking libraries, writing adapters, all to serve slightly more relevant ads slightly faster. What a huge fucking waste of time. After the 2008 financial meltdown, it was noted that the &quot;best and brightest&quot; young people were wasting their talents on the &quot;financialization&quot; of the economy, which did nothing good for nearly everyone. I see the same thing happening now, in software.<p>Third, like the author, I got tired of working for idiots and wasting my time on corporate voodoo, so I left for consulting. While that has much to recommend it, working pretty much by yourself definitely limits what you can accomplish. On the other hand, I have a lot more time to myself, and I&#x27;m enjoying traveling, visiting family and friends, sleeping late, and generally just doing whatever I want.