Dilemma

Seryosong post muna..

I have a dilemma. I like the company I'm working for. I didn't intend to like it, but since that is the case now, it has become a problem for me. I am in that usual "money versus nice job" situation. As much as I want to move on to find a new job (with higher salary), I am held back by some stuff that I think would be difficult to find in any other company. Ok that's very subjective, but for me there's a great deal of opportunity here that's too important to ignore. One of which is the opportunity to be in the forefront of technology. Especially one that's taking the heat.

I am currently working for a company that handles a lot of media. The branch I am assigned to has a lot to do with DRM. DRM is a copy protection technology that limits playback of media depending on the license you purchased. If you've been reading some geek news lately (everyone's so hyped with the new iPhone, I'm buying one btw, 2008 bwahaha), DRM is currently taking the heat, Microsoft included. There's too much free stuff out there that it's becoming pointless to implement this aging technology. Though there have been a lot of suggested alternatives, none has really come up to replace DRM as of yet. Even Microsoft is silently (or obviously) dumping DRM, deciding to ignore it in the new Zune player.

Whatever this waging war leads to, it's exciting to be part of it, and see how the company would try to restructure itself whatever the outcome, if it ever happens. Of course it won't be swift (there's some comfort in knowing that haha), but being part of it would be a great deal for me, and my nerdy career.

Another important thing to consider with this company is the opportunity to (potentially) have an effect on a large audience. Since we are part of MediaCorp after all (ok it's just Singapore, but what the hell), it's not very difficult to insert some new creative/innovative software solutions here and there and wait until someone from the hierarchy notices. It's like being in a startup company that isn't really a startup company (did that make sense?). Ok two things with startup companies that immediately springs to mind: 1) Tend to be innovative to be competitive (though we're not really competing, MC is monopoly), 2) Has a lot of room for improvement (this one stands out for our case). I still remember vividly in a company meeting, Mr Mock wants a "YouTube in our phones"; I like bosses who push the envelope. I also remember messing up in some IP filtering software and only then did I realize the scope of what I did - people cannot stream from the Mediacorp online radio stations. It helps if your boss is not crippled with a narrow mind, which thankfully is my case. Anyway, since Vista is around the corner, focusing on a better delivery framework using WPF should be in order. Even MediaCorp would be interested in that.

Last but not the least, nobody seems to care if I come in late in the office hahaha! Ok, people are actually noticing (and it's probably me who's not caring) but I'm just too thick-skinned (and lazy) to come to the office earlier haha. I am delivering in time after all (now THAT is thick-skinned to the max). It's either I love being a renegade, or I hate being professional, or probably both. Whichever the case, if I get fired doing this, I won't regret it haha.

So going back to my dilemma.

Yeah it's still a dilemma. I have a few more months to mull over this. There's no guarantee my contract will be extended anyway. Did I mention I'm contractual? What the hell's my problem???! :P

Oh and if you've read this far, thanks for the time and patience :)