At the turn of the last century, naval technology was the computer technology today. It was at that time that battleships appeared on the scenes. These were the most heavily-armed, most heavily-armored, most expensive, and least used ships in history. Ironically, though these ships were the most capable ships sailing the seas, because of their tremendous cost, navies deliberately kept these ships from the heat of the battle, for fear of losing them. Combined with the continual advance of technological progress, the result was an arms race in which the most ferocious ships were outclassed in every respect by newer ships, relegated to lower-class fleets, and eventually retired. Eventually, as firepower overtook protection, it became possible for a small gunboat to sink a battleship. This sad reality spelled the end of the role of the battleship. Today, there are no battleships in service in any fleet in the world.
Yesterday, I read a blog post about the grim future of programmers, and I immediately thought of these battleships. Companies looking to hire fresh talent, and the older being outclassed on every front by the younger really corresponded to the pattern exhibited in the development of battleships. In the end, though battleships are so cool, they needed to make way for the newer ones. I suppose that one day, I will be outclassed, and will have to do likewise, though right now, I'm considered one of the younger ones.
Written on September 1, 2010