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RubyConf 2019 - Thomas Edison vs Three Teslas in a Trenchcoat by Coraline Ada Ehmke As a company grows, adopting new technologies becomes more complex, costly, and risky. But as developers we want to keep our skills up-to-date and are often drawn to the latest and hottest tools. So how can we effectively experiment with new technologies at work in a responsible way? This talk will recount the famously adversarial relationship between Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla, and from their story we will learn ways to balance and exploit the tension between the boring and the new, the familiar and the shiny, the safe and the unknown. #confreaks #rubyconf2019
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In her talk at RubyConf 2019, Coraline Ada Ehmke explores the adversarial relationship between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla as a metaphor for the challenges developers face when adopting new technologies in an organizational context. She emphasizes the importance of balance between existing, stable technologies and the lure of new, untested tools. Several key points emerge from the presentation: - **Introduction of Key Figures**: Ehmke introduces Thomas Edison, an advocate of direct current (DC), who developed many famous inventions and established the first large-scale power systems in the U.S., contrasted with Nikola Tesla, a proponent of alternating current (AC), whose innovative designs ultimately led to the widespread adoption of AC systems. - **War of the Currents**: She discusses the historical conflict between Edison and Tesla regarding their respective technologies; despite Edison's initial dominance, Tesla's AC eventually proved superior for efficient long-distance power distribution. - **Cultural Misconceptions**: Ehmke challenges the myth of the ‘lone genius’ in innovation, illustrating how both Edison and Tesla relied on teams and partnerships for their successes, thus encouraging developers to value collaboration and shared creativity in their projects. - **Technology Adoption Strategies**: She provides a framework for responsibly adopting new technologies within organizations by assessing the following: - The necessity of the new technology relative to the current business need. - The potential impact on existing systems and teams. - A decision-making matrix for evaluating technologies based on adoption difficulty and utility. - **Balancing Innovation with Stability**: Ehmke emphasizes that developers oscillate between being like Edison, the practical executor, and Tesla, the innovative thinker. Recognizing this spectrum can help individuals and teams navigate technology choices more effectively. - **Experimentation and Collaboration**: The talk concludes with recommendations for testing new technologies through structured experimentation with clear objectives, ensuring that developers can adapt as needed while minimizing disruption to existing projects. Overall, Ehmke’s insights encourage developers to find a collaborative balance between practicality and innovation when experimenting with new technologies, drawing lessons from the historical context of Edison and Tesla's rivalry. In conclusion, as organizations grow more complex, developers must manage the risks and rewards of new technologies thoughtfully while leveraging teamwork and shared knowledge to create innovations that are both effective and responsible.
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