No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto by Michael Hartl | Tau Day, 2010. Craft or art? | Code and Bugs. One of my teachers once said to some of his students: «Your job is both beautiful and cursed». He was referring to the fact that, in Computer Science, one has to always learn something new while being certain that what he learns will become obsolete in a shorter or longer period of time.
However, this is only a partial reason. At least, for the programming part of Computer Science. The sheer joy of making things, especially things that are useful for others, the pleasure of knowing that our work is used by others because they find it useful, all of these give programming a high value in terms of rewards for labor hours. However, one most perform perfectly in this world.
Like in a legend, the magic of programming will not work if one single glyph is wrong, if one chevron is wrongly encoded. An improperly done incantation will not work. Yet, the programming activity can be compared with designing complex systems from tiny pieces, like in a puzzle. However, there is one last sweet spot. Top ten geek business myths. Since I've started my new career as a venture capitalist I have become keenly aware of some of the classic mistakes that geeks make when trying to raise money for a new business.
Instead of writing the same comments over and over again I thought I'd try to summarize some of the mistakes that people -- especially smart people -- make when they decide to try to turn their bright ideas into money. Here then is my top-ten list of geek business myths: Myth #1: A brilliant idea will make you rich. Reality: A brilliant idea is neither necessary nor sufficient for a successful business, although all else being equal it can't hurt. Microsoft is probably the canonical example of a successful business, and it has never had a single brilliant idea in its entire history. Myth #2: If you build it they will come. There is a grain of truth to this myth.
But despite the fact that on a technical level FlowNet blew everything else out of the water it was an abysmal failure as a business. Good luck.