Ask HN: Which industries have the most to gain from software (or hardware)?

4 points by v3rt 13 years ago | 1 comment

From the recent "How to get Startup Ideas" article:

"So if you're a CS major and you want to start a startup, instead of taking a class on entrepreneurship you're better off taking a class on, say, genetics. Or better still, go work for a biotech company. CS majors normally get summer jobs at computer hardware or software companies. But if you want to find startup ideas, you might do better to get a summer job in some unrelated field. "

As a third-year CS major in college with a couple of software internships under my belt, including one at Google, I'm thinking right now about which industries would be the best to dip a toe in and see where they could use some help from ideas from the tech world. One area that's clearly been exploding is bioinformatics - I've spent some time at a lab doing research in the area, and it's an interesting field. What are some other ones that people might not immediately think about?

jamesjguthrie 13 years ago |

My vote would go to the automotive industry, specifically for work in engine research. For instance, improvements can still be made to combustion and the amount of work still to be done with electric engines is massive.