Scott Wasson Announces His Retirement From The Tech Report
by Ryan Smith on December 3, 2015 1:40 AM EST- Posted in
- Misc
Congratulations are in order this evening for one of AnandTech’s most esteemed colleagues and peers, Scott Wasson. Scott founded The Tech Report back in 1999 and has lead it since, and in those years has operated one of the best deep technical websites in the business. However after 16 years at the helm of The Tech Report, this evening Scott has announced that he is retiring from the site at the start of next year and will be joining AMD.
Among his accomplishment, Scott was instrumental in bringing the matter of GPU frame pacing and overall frame rate consistency to the attention of the wider world of technology. And at the same time he has been equally responsible for holding AMD to task on the subject – a position that isn’t always easy – ultimately driving AMD to improve their drivers and frame delivery mechanisms to the benefit of all users. So to find out that he is joining AMD, though undoubtedly a loss to technical journalism, is wonderful news for both parties, as now AMD will have a strong advocate for quality and user experience within their ranks who can push for even more.
So with that in mind, I wish Scott congratulations and the best of luck in his new position.
As for The Tech Report, Scott has announced that his managing editor and right-hand man Jeff Kampman will be taking over the site. Jeff has done a great deal for the site since joining, so I am happy to hear that Jeff will be continuing the Report's tradition of quality journalism.
Source: The Tech Report
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barleyguy - Thursday, December 3, 2015 - link
In my experience, large companies will absolutely interview someone for a software developer position without a degree. You just need lots of previous experience (at least 10 years). I've been in corporate level software for about 20 years without a degree, and it's never been an issue that I can tell.If you don't have experience, you either need a degree, or you need to get that experience by working for a startup, an underpaying employer like a school district, or working your way up (which you won't do unless you're way above average).
The degree route is probably easier. Actually many large companies nowadays are dominated by senior level engineers in their 40's and 50's, and the only practical way to get in the door with no experience is as an intern. Then if you are a "star" as an intern, you can get an offer for a longer term position.
When the senior engineers that are dominant right now retire, which will start happening in the next 10 years or so, my theory is that there will be an engineering shortage and things will get easier for young people.
tipoo - Thursday, December 3, 2015 - link
On the engineering side, yeah they do. "IT" as a vague umbrella, sure you can get in without any papers.Shadowmaster625 - Thursday, December 3, 2015 - link
I couldnt agree more. Plus with all the PC garbage floating around universities these days, it is pretty much a detriment to be a university graduate given the accompanying debt burden. The world outside of university provides plenty of educational opportunity to ANYONE who has the drive to see it and use it.Reflex - Thursday, December 3, 2015 - link
A university degree in CS is well worth the money. At my company a typical offer to a bachelors in CS is $90k + about $40k in signing bonuses and stock. Add $10k to base pay and bumps on signing and stock for a Masters. These would be for fresh grads just out of college. You can pay off a LOT of school debt with the bonuses, if not all of it. If you do not have such a degree, it will be difficult to get an interview, much less such a decent starting offer.The "PC garbage" you reference is also a positive for such candidates, tech companies are incredibly diverse. Half of my team is from other countries, and we partner with a team in India, and have multiple other teams we work with in 14 other countries. My colleagues run the gamut of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, faith and political leanings, those who have experience interacting respectfully with others do much better than those who do not. Our interview process includes "culture fit" as a major component and while we will overlook a technical skill here and there, someone who is not deemed a culture fit is a no hire automatically regardless of how intelligent or how much experience they may have.
eek2121 - Thursday, December 3, 2015 - link
I have to agree with the above statement. My salary is the highest in my field (development) and related fields, but I never went to college. Anyone requiring a degree doesn't know what they are doing.jasonelmore - Thursday, December 3, 2015 - link
coding is a totally different beast, than ITReflex - Thursday, December 3, 2015 - link
It really depends on what your role is, what the size/importance of the company you work for is, and when you got in. Those of us who got in during the 90's were easily able to do so without credentials or degrees. During the 00's that shifted and it is virtually impossible to get a job on the engineering/development side with any tech company that is a relevant driver without a degree. Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook are not likely to even give you an interview without seeing a CS on your resume/profile unless you have been in the industry so long that your degree would be obsolete and subsumed by experience anyways.jasonelmore - Thursday, December 3, 2015 - link
it all boils down to this.. .you can make it without a degree if you do great things, like make a killer app, popular website, or stunning design.Without a degree, you have to prove your worth before they take a chance on you
With a degree, they will take a chance on you and are willing to train you
Reflex - Friday, December 4, 2015 - link
Yes, absolutely.Ryan Smith - Thursday, December 3, 2015 - link
I'm not going anywhere. I need to beat Anand's record.;-)