This week’s episode of SWS contains an essay by Paul Graham, a Decoder podcast episode and a method to note-taking while reading.
📚 Writes and Write-Nots by Paul Graham
Reading Paul Graham‘s newest essay, it convinced me to further deepen my online-writing. It has been some weeks since I started my journey on Substack, but this read showed me how important it is to write.
Graham points out that „[t]o write well you have to think clearly, and thinking clearly is hard.“
He forecasts that with the rise of AI, „[i]nstead of good writers, ok writers, and people who can’t write, there will just be good writers and people who can’t write“.
Leslie Lamport claimed, that „[i]f you’re thinking without writing, you only think you’re thinking“.
Thus AI can lead to „a world divided into writes and write-not“ which then can result in „a world of thinks and think-nots“, which is quite worrying.
🎧 Decoder podcast with Baris Cetinok, General Motors’ senior vice president, software and services, product management, program management, and design
This podcast goes into detail why GM chose their own in-car entertainment solution rather than choosing Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
It shows how GM tries to keep their hands on the software which is built into the car. One of the reasons is that they also want to take a part of the in-car payments which will get more in the future. Relying solely on Apple or Google means that the only they get a share of all payments, GM would only provide the hardware (aka the car) as a platform for big tech.
This podcast also has parallels for developers. The decision wether to build something by yourself or buy/use a readymade solution can also have a negative impact on your income.
📚 Blank Sheet Method
This article by Farnam Street provides a different approach on how to take notes while reading a book.
Before you start reading, you prepare a blank sheet of paper. On it you write down all information you possess on the topic the book is about.
During each reading session, you write down notes on the sheet in a different color.
Before your next session, you go over the sheet and get a quick start back into the topic.
Once you finish the book (or the sheet is full) you put it into a folder and (try to) revisit it on a regular basis to deepen your knowledge to the topic.