> even allowing for time off, that works out to roughly 300 books a year, or well over 6,000 across two decades. And that is just the professional tally.
There is much innovation, hacking, etc. in "regular software jobs". Many companies that get launched are about improving efficiency or solving problems that these "regular software jobs" face. Once a startup grows, the product may continue to be interesting and new, but the day to day for the engineers building it begins to resemble a "regular software job".