I Don't Know

I have a few friends that are considering entering the IT field.  Some of the concerns I hear from them are, "There is too much to learn" and "How can I keep up".  I think they have some good points.

I like to feel that I was hired on at Microsoft because one of my passions is technology.  For example, a colleague of mine--I'll call him DW--just purchased a Bluetooth Notebook Mouse with a built-in laser and presenter controls.  I spent half the morning admiring and talking about this mouse and lamenting the fact that I didn't buy one first.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I have a passion for all things geeky.  (At least I didn't celebrate Pi Day, like my friend WHW did.)  Even with this passion to learn, I still find myself struggling.  The reason I struggle is that I entered the IT field when things weren't so complicated (1992).  At one point in time, I was an expert at one thing and (ignorantly) thought that I knew it all.

Boy how things have changed.  I can't even keep up with the .net framework, let alone everything else in the app dev space.  While this keeps my career interesting--my wife isn't happy with all the time I spend working. 

This wonderful post by Rocky Lhotka sums up what I have been thinking about for a while.  Our field is becoming specialized.  We're not there yet--but we will be shortly.  I should stop feeling like I am struggling to keep up.  I need to get out of the mid 90's mindset--I don't have to know everything.  It's alright to say, "I don't know".