Those commercials seem pretty tone deaf to me. I mean the one where his friends don't think he'll still be a programmer because he's working for GE, or the one where his dad doesn't think he can lift a sledgehammer. I get that they're trying to be funny and poke fun at themselves, but there's an undercurrent of condescension and patting this kid on the head that is very off-putting to me as a software engineer. After reading bradrydzewski's comment about the culture at GE it's making a lot more sense. GE just doesn't get software engineers.
They were saying, yes "apps" for your phone are topical. The point of their commercial was "we work on big crazy complex shit and you can be part of solving a huge challenge".
The photos in this article of their manufacture engineering plants amaze me. Now couple those projects with sensors that are starting to giving off TBs of information in an hour and you can start to realize the scale of problems you could be working on at GE.
In another 5-10 years, many of the folks grinding it out in silicon valley, or other startupy things will realize they have a desire to have a family and will want to apply their talents towards more meaningful projects than "apps" that do not require being part of silicon valley.
Their commercials and this article painted the perfect picture of what's possible at GE and outside of silicon valley in my mind.
