[OT] partialy I was wondering what suggestions for programing

[Leo J Mauler]

On Sun, 8 Feb 2004 22:09:10 -0500 Bryan Richard <bryan at booknerd.net>
writes:
> On Sun, Feb 08, 2004 at 10:17:00AM -0600, Michael Shaw wrote:
> <snip>
> 
> >    Finally as a recently laid off programmer with 25 
> > years service I'd caution you to seriously consider 
> > going into the programming field.  Today with all the 
> > off-shoring by taking place in corporate America 
> > programming is an imploding career field salary-wise.  
> > $60,000/yr american programmers now have to 
> > compete against $6,000/yr programmers in India, 
> > and we're losing fast.  

Of course, companies outsourcing programming to India are losing fast
too.  Re-integration of programming code written by an individual who has
problems with the English language can cost almost as much as twice the
cost savings of hiring lower paid Indian programmers.  For starters all
the documentation, if there is any, is more likely to be in a different
language than English.

Now, India will eventually wise up, teach its programmers better English,
and cut out the middleman in these outsourcing deals.  But until then
companies will be losing their money in the longer short run by thinking
they are going to save money outsourcing to India in the shorter short
run.  And of course in the long run India will just charge them more
money anyway.

> Hack programmers no longer cut it.  You must 
> know your stuff across a wide range of topics 
> (client/server, GUI/Web interfaces, DBMS's, 
> SQL, etc) and know it well to compete.  It 
> would also help to be in a niche market such 
> as device drivers.
> 
> That's awful but it's also something I have been 
> thinking about lately. The rate of information 
> rollover for technology is starting to concern me. 
> In 25 years how many times has your skillset 
> needed serious refreshing? I think I've read that 
> in IT, knowledge only last 5 years. I know that 
> none of the Java programming I did in '97-99 
> is relevant. 

I tell my wife this ("honey, technology jobs I had in 1996 are no longer
relevant to my resume!") but she doesn't understand. 

Anyone out there need help connecting their Windows 3.1 machines to the
Internet using Trumpet Winsock?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Helloooo?  :)

> I ask b/c I'm thinking of leaving technology altogether 
> w/in the next ten years to teach anthropology.  The 
> technology of 2,000 years ago seems much more 
> stable than what we do some days...

Yes, its making me consider *education* as a career choice, given that it
costs too much to outsource education of *children* to another country.  

"Now class, watch the monitors as the nice man from India teaches you how
to sing a song about rabbits and write your own name in cursive!"

I'll be the guy operating the monitor, if nothing else.  :)

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