I just graduated from college in June 2008 with a BSBA in Marketing. I am now the lead UI designer for a major Rails site. Based on just that, yes, it's obsolete. I am not using my degree in any official capacity and it cost $60,000.
But while I found it easy to write off my degree and what I learned in college when I graduated as unnecessary, at least initially, I have found myself recalling lessons I learned in class more than a few times.
1. A lot of hackers and tech people look past business and marketing as the boring part of running a company. It's not, it's actually one of the hardest parts. It's easy to believe that "if you build it, they will come" but most successful software is the result of good marketing and good business sense. I learned a lot about this in school and I am glad I learned the basics where mistakes didn't cost real money.
2. While it may not have been necessary to attend school to read and discuss cases, it helped a lot. Working through marketing problems and understanding business with a group of like minded people helped it all click faster. Much like discussing technology issues on Hacker News can help make sense of everything faster.
But while I found it easy to write off my degree and what I learned in college when I graduated as unnecessary, at least initially, I have found myself recalling lessons I learned in class more than a few times.
1. A lot of hackers and tech people look past business and marketing as the boring part of running a company. It's not, it's actually one of the hardest parts. It's easy to believe that "if you build it, they will come" but most successful software is the result of good marketing and good business sense. I learned a lot about this in school and I am glad I learned the basics where mistakes didn't cost real money.
2. While it may not have been necessary to attend school to read and discuss cases, it helped a lot. Working through marketing problems and understanding business with a group of like minded people helped it all click faster. Much like discussing technology issues on Hacker News can help make sense of everything faster.