I see your point and agree with it mostly. However on the flipside, minorities do benefit from sharing their experiences amongst themselves. Issues that affect blacks and other minority groups generally are not discussed or even recognised on mainstream platforms so alternatives arise organically to meet those needs.

I have decided to never complain without followup action. I have also decided to never hide my picture thinking that it hurts my chances. If the world thinks that only people who look like Zuckerberg have good ideas; I’ll let them continue to sleep. When my ideas become household names, I will just count the money (which by the way is still green).

http://www.dkwtechnik.com/blog

Over the years I’ve “picked” up the knack for learning new softwares and coding tech.

Here is what people need to realize in 2011. Any knuckle head can build a web site. So for blacks (in particular) to think that knowing how to put some lines of HTML together or knowing how to post a WordPress Blog; is programming… they are completely wrong!!!

Black people (on average) tend to lean more to the creative (front-end) development side of things. They’ll want to design the car – not build the engine, they’ll want to design the building – not develop the mechanical engineering specs.

This might be due to lack of exposure, and aversion to things that are “difficult” or maybe it’s because it “makes more sense” to do “fun” work opposed to “logic” based work where mathematics might be necessary.

Now I did say “on average” because history proves that there have been exceptions Garrett Morrison and Dr. Ben Carson are just two. But when it comes to the 21st century and Programming there are very few. Not so in Computer “Hardware”! I’ve know many very smart Blacks that can set up LAN’s and WAN’s; but there is a huge chasm between that and programming.

To that end, I’ve taken it upon myself over the years to dive more into Programming, for those who might read this and want to get started but don’t know what to learn here you go: PHP, Python, Basic (VisualBasic), (RealBasic), C#, Java, Coldfusion
These are PROGRAMMING languages wiki the names and learn more. To give you real wold examples of what they can do. MySpace was built with Coldfusion. Facebook was originally built on PHP and now they’ve created their own Facebook version of PHP to run on their servers called XPHP. Python and Basic have been around for decades and is still widely used in programming.

It’s challenging but NOT HARD! I’m even getting my son started in the basics of programming – he’s in the 4th grade and 10 years old.

I believe once a child can understand “if/then/else”, “basic math addition, subtraction, multiplication, division” and the basics of algebra “7+x=10 What is the value of x?” they can get started in programming! Programming is the future!!! Don’t be scared. Just push yourself. Nothing worth having comes easy. By the way – I was terrible in math growing up, even in high school. What teachers never told me and what I didn’t understand, is that math isn’t about getting the right answers! (of course if you do it correctly you will get the right answer) but more importantly, it’s about PROBLEM SOLVING!!! Every Programmer is solving a problem. So go find a problem and solve it! Have fun.

Due to the lack of interest, those people choose another major that seems more fun, or less work. After-all, who actually studies their behinds off in college anymore??? A CS major at a reputable school has to spend countless all-nighters writing programs.
In turn, people miss being able to produce new things for lack of knowing how current technologies work behind the scenes from the coding standpoint. Coupled with the small number of black college students there are and forked with other socio-problematic dilemmas like, the need to support ourselves NOW or be homeless is why. Not to speak for all, but most blacks try to make money within the black community only. (Silly)
Aside from advertisements, and mobile apps…the market in black consumers is relatively low. Many still don’t feel comfortable using their credit cards to purchase over the internet but will give their card number to a representative over the phone. Some still think having internet presence like facebook.com is too dangerous.
Oh well, may as well drop out and be a producer, play football, whatever else rather than sit at home in front of a computer screen all day. These fields have more of a respect factor in the black community anyways. After all, everybody knows LeBron, but nobody knows the black guy that created the technology that allows people to spoof their number from caller IDs.

Me? I’ve been in the game for a while now and have touched all facets of Information Technology. Though I should not be concerned, is the world really ready to spend their money on a black owned, black created product?? Only time will tell here. I think the key is internationalization. Moreover, having a sound background in marketing plus business. If a product is presented in “black” form, it essentially cuts out 99% of the entire world from exposure. That’s bad for business. I’ve never been so micromanaged to think that little.

Got a few questions for you. I am working on a website and taking the same approach you did by surrounding myself with individuals who have the technical knowledge.

David