Technology changes fast. So fast that before one can decide which
technology to use, a new one is out to replace those in consideration.
At the same time, there are too many competing technologies. One can hardly find time to fully understand one, let alone so many of them.
Add
these all up and sprinkle in ample amount of business activities. You
can be sure a small technology-based business owner has his hands full.
Bill Gates coined Business at the Speed of Thoughts. I wished. One thing is for sure, it is not arriving as soon as Bill thinks.
Today I took a step back and looked at what I had done, after a year of probing in China. Not very comforting. I hasn’t progressed far. In fact, certain things had even came a full circle, bringing me back to the starting point.
It is not to say there isn’t any achievement. I learnt alot, did alot, know alot of people (both good and bad, though more of the latter).
One of the thing I learnt is about selecting technology.
For a small business, selecting technology isn’t so much about what you like. It isn’t even matter so much what you know. I am talk about a small, one man, maybe two, business.
It really is about what technology people know in the market.
Fine, I should have know that. But I was idealistic, stubbornly so.
Take PHP for example. Where are the PHP developers in China? I am sure there are. Some of the wildly popular applications are coded in PHP. Some major websites are in PHP.
I can only speculate,
- They are all taken away by those companies or some MNCs
- No one cares about PHP, just use ASP whose software and books are widely available.
- Everyone that knows PHP decides to start a business on their own and not work for others.
While I’m still trapped with the lack of PHP developers, I starting to think whether PHP is my bet for the road ahead.
Ruby is looking very bright. Python is rearing its head.
On the development platform front, I’m not sure if developing for the web is the way to go. Sure, web 2.0 is reviving the interesting in using standard based HTML interface. Stealing the limelight from Flash and Actionscript altogether.
Eclipse is casting its shadow over many areas and possibility. Konfabulator makes developing for the desktop fun once again. Cross platform is a major overarching theme.
One year later, I am back to deciding.
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