Overall, the article generally reeks of employees that are too lazy/complacent/comfortable to pull out the big guns and aim for what they want in a big company. Obviously if you've had your big guns out for months/years and you still feel ungratified, then yeah, probably time for a change.
There are my initial reactions to all the points.
1) Bureaucracy getting you down? Tear down/bypass useless red tape.
2) Can't find an interesting project? I'm sure there are hundreds of interesting teams nation/worldwide you haven't met yet.
3) Poor annual performance reviews? Learn the system and work it, even if you have to play kiss up every now and then to important people. It's your money in your bank, after all.
4) No discussion around career development? No lead is going to turn you away if you go into his or her office and ask for it.
5) Feeling jerked around? Stand your ground and don't be a yes-man (or woman).
6) No one holding you accountable? Call for your own brainstorming sessions and peer reviews.
7) Can't find smart people? See note above about finding an interesting project.
8) Don't understand your company's vision? Either take ownership and try to influence it if it's that important to you, or keep your head down and keep doing awesome work.
9) Encountering closed-minded imbeciles? See note above about getting jerked around.
10) Don't like your boss? See note above about finding an interesting project.
The reason why I generally dislike working at my big company (wonder if they'll see this!) simply boils down to a lack of challenge. Not intending to come off as arrogant, but if I can dedicate 20% of my brainpower and consistently get rave reviews from everyone around me, something is seriously wrong with the picture. So I generally wait until the last minute, code sprint, say "check please," and go home and do something more interesting with my life.
Totally agree with your sentiment on bureaucracy. One of the first mantras I adopted at my "big company" was to get stuff done the best way you know how, and risk the slap on the wrist later. More than likely you have just taken the first step towards positive change in your company.
With regards to having interesting projects, I'd add that if you're in a big company, then in all likelihood there are tons of projects you will find interesting if you look hard enough (and if you're a tinkerer like a lot of you are here, this shouldn't be all that difficult). If you can honestly say you've rotated, shopped around, interviewed dozens of managers, and found nothing that can balance your compensation needs and your passions, then get out of dodge, stat. Otherwise, as my dad used to tell me, stick around until you run out of interesting/fun things to do.
For gaming, mostly agree. Although I think that the pretty graphics are mostly for show, the real power will be the ability to customize gestures for any application, and the utility you get out of these gestures can well be worth looking down at a "mouse screen."
I'm imagining being able to manipulate a CAD model in isolation, freely rotating items in PowerPoint, redistributing power among throttle/lasers/shields using sliding bars (X-wing, anyone?)...I'm sure there are many more.
I'd almost argue to keep a normal track pad for dedicated cursor navigation and have the awesome set of touchscreens as a peripheral. Then have an amazing API for software developers to do creative things with it, and have an amazing UI for the layman to create their own mappings. That might get adoption for this type of thing going faster.
There are my initial reactions to all the points.
1) Bureaucracy getting you down? Tear down/bypass useless red tape.
2) Can't find an interesting project? I'm sure there are hundreds of interesting teams nation/worldwide you haven't met yet.
3) Poor annual performance reviews? Learn the system and work it, even if you have to play kiss up every now and then to important people. It's your money in your bank, after all.
4) No discussion around career development? No lead is going to turn you away if you go into his or her office and ask for it.
5) Feeling jerked around? Stand your ground and don't be a yes-man (or woman).
6) No one holding you accountable? Call for your own brainstorming sessions and peer reviews.
7) Can't find smart people? See note above about finding an interesting project.
8) Don't understand your company's vision? Either take ownership and try to influence it if it's that important to you, or keep your head down and keep doing awesome work.
9) Encountering closed-minded imbeciles? See note above about getting jerked around.
10) Don't like your boss? See note above about finding an interesting project.
The reason why I generally dislike working at my big company (wonder if they'll see this!) simply boils down to a lack of challenge. Not intending to come off as arrogant, but if I can dedicate 20% of my brainpower and consistently get rave reviews from everyone around me, something is seriously wrong with the picture. So I generally wait until the last minute, code sprint, say "check please," and go home and do something more interesting with my life.