The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 3 (of 5)

Who Moved My Cheese?

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.02/india.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=

And therein lies the opportunity for Americans.

A must read for every pissed-off programmer.

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"Someday," Janish says, "another nation will take business from India." Perhaps China or the Philippines, which are already competing for IT work.

"When that happens, how will you respond?" I ask.

"I think you must have read Who Moved My Cheese?" Aparna says to my surprise.

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Patni's head of human resources, Miland Jadhav, compares the Pissed-Off Programmers' efforts to the protests that greeted Pizza Hut's arrival in India. When the chain opened, some people "went around smashing windows and doing all kinds of things," but their cause ultimately did not prevail. Why? Demand. "You cannot tell Indian people to stop eating at Pizza Hut," he says. "It won't happen." Likewise, if some kinds of work can be done just as well for a lot cheaper somewhere other than the US, that's where US companies will send the work. The reason: demand. And if we don't like it, then it's time to return our iPods (assembled in Taiwan), our cell phones (manufactured in Korea), and our J. Crew shirts (sewn in Indonesia). We can't have it both ways.

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The six Hexawarians are sympathetic but unmoved. They disagree with the very premise that cheap labor is hurting the US. And they think it's somewhat laughable that, because things aren't going exactly our way, ordinarily change-infatuated Americans are suddenly decrying change. "Back in the US, it's all about cheap, cheap, cheap. It's not only about India being cheap. It's quality services," says Jairam's colleague Kavita Samudra, who works on applications for the airline industry. "The fact that they're getting a quality product is why people are coming to us."

Raj Aryan
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Time to get a job at Corning and crank out some more fiber optic

apw
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Hrm... India is >only< about being cheap. Higher quality is not a factor. The quality of software coming from India is not greater than that coming from American programmers or Chinese Programmers or European programmers. In fact according to many the quality is equal to or lower than the software made in the aforementioned countries.

My boss once told me, "You think our code looks bad. You should see the competitions." He was right.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

I don't know why all these pissed off american programmers don't take offshoring as a blessing in disguise and just open up a krispe kreme franchise or something. Are you really missing your lousy corporate back office programming jobs that much? I view the offshoring trend as a good justification to my family and peers as a good reason for me to exit the office life and pursue a career in park management. your mileage may vary.

zzz
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

>I don't know why all these pissed off american >programmers don't take offshoring as a blessing in >disguise and just open up a krispe kreme franchise or >something

Newsflash - It costs $1,000,000 to open an Krispy Kreme.

Idiots...go back to your cage, mindless code monkey.
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

America doesn't want people who haven't got $1M here and there to test franchises in random locations.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

nevermind. keep on maintaining those legacy apps!

zzz
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

People! You have forgotten you only exist on this planet to fulfill the whims of the rich and powerful. It is the height of selfishness and innefficiency to want a long, secure and fulfilling career, it does not deliver optimum profit to our glorious corporate masters. It is only through the creative destruction of little people, that our masters will grow and prosper, have you not learned basic economic theory?

The wonderful people of India are a shining example to us all. They know their true position is one of humble servitude, regardless of their inability to employ punctuation correctly. They are grateful for the opportunity to serve our masters, however briefly before they are tossed aside. Our masters have shined their munificence upon us for too long, we have grown fat and complacent. Now is the time ask for forgiveness, to redouble our efforts and work harder for less pay.

All praise the Nasdaq!

uncle tom
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

From the article:

"But never - not once - does anybody mention innovation, creativity, or changing the world. Again, it reminds me of Japan in the '80s - dedicated to continuous improvement but often at the expense of bolder leaps of possibility.

"And therein lies the opportunity for Americans."

I've mentioned this many times in topics on this site - yet I am constantly bombarded with posts from people insisting I'm a racist. It is not racist to make the observation that cultures have distinguishable aggregate behaviors & characteristics.

Everyone, on some level, knows that Americans have short attention spans, and that Indians tend to have a great work ethic. Please, don't deny this; we all know it's true. And it doesn't have anything to do with genetics. We simply are all products of our environments.

My assertion is that we, as a society, must acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses. We Americans are materialistic, and arrogant, and a thousand other negative things that posters from other countries point out on a daily basis - but we are also the most innovative culture on the planet. Stop whining, Americans, and start creating new software opportunities.

anon
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Gee, that's an accurate article. Right from the sub-head, which tells us India is the "capital of the computer revolution" or something similar.

Wake me when India gets close.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

uncle tom:

The Nasdaq is sooo "Year 2000". The NYSE is still your daddy, and always will be. Back to work!!

Dick Grasso
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

The idea "change is the only constant in life" is a very reactive philosophy. Why should you just sit back and roll with the changes? Why not work to change things yourself?

Saying "oh well, things have changed, nothing I can do about it" is a very disempowering viewpoint. No wonder those in power are trying to promote it amoung the peons.

Sum Dum Gai
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

From Peter Drucker:
"Most people don't realize that we import twice or three times as many jobs as we export. The most obvious are foreign auto companies."

Gamut
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

SDG:

The way you've phrased it, the philosophy does sound pessimistic.

I'm a fan of the "things change, and I can't stop that, but I'll make sure I'm in the best possible position to land on my feet after the disaster" philosophy.

I'm in a good job now, but I have no idea whether it will last two more years or twenty. It truly *is* out of my control. But I think that if I were to just turn a blind eye to that uncertainty (many people do just that), it would be far more dangerous than taking a slightly pessimistic, or fatalistic view of possible future outcomes.

Rob VH
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

uncle tom - if there were a post of the day, you would win!

m
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Rob VH that's exactly my position on the matter.

christopher baus (tahoe, nv)
Wednesday, January 28, 2004

My favorite part of the article is when the guy gives his wife the book as a wedding present and writes "I am one cheese which won't move".

When I get married I'm giving my wife a copy of Code Complete and writting: "I am one pointer who will never dangle".

Jorel on Software
Wednesday, January 28, 2004

------"Everyone, on some level, knows that Americans have short attention spans, and that Indians tend to have a great work ethic."------

I wokk with loads of Americans and Indians. I've not noticed anything of the sort.

Stephen Jones
Saturday, January 31, 2004

"I wokk with loads of Americans and Indians. I've not noticed anything of the sort. "

...don't believe you. 888

anon
Monday, February 2, 2004