You can't cure a disease by treating only the symptoms. The true problem that we're complaining about here -- as I've said before -- is the economic infrastructure in which we're all trying to go forth and prosper ... and most of us eventually will ... after a lot of suffering and setbacks. It's simple supply and demand relative to the status quo. As I always say .... water ultimately seeks its proper level. CF developers -- like all workers -- are inevitably paid a portion of what they produce -- which should mean paid a proportion of the earnings produced by what they do. And if you don't know what that is -- that's also the problem. The development infrastructure within which we work will also influence what we're worth, by augmenting or impeding what any given skill level can reasonably produce. Jr developers in todays development environment just don't produce what experienced developers can -- left to their own devices (without a high cost of supervision that few are willing to pay) -- which would indicate that you need to change the devices. That's just what happened with ship building in the sixteenth century when ship builders finally started working from paper plans -- which enabled a whole lot more ship to be built and a great many more builders to be much more productive in the process. It happened again in the nineteen century when gun makers started building interchangeable parts -- which once again enabled a lot more guns to be built and a great many more gun makers to become much more productive. Each of these changes augmented the productivity of each respective industry many fold and greatly improved the fortunes of those engaged in them. The same thing WILL happen with code and functionality (it is happening), as we alter and evolve the infrastructure within which in occurs (fusebox and swithcbox are signs of this). Still, we will need the same type of wholesale reorganization as occurred in the other industries to really make us happy (happier, anyway), and --- hopefully we will also achieve (to a greater degree) one other goal that didn't fully happen with the other two infrastructure revolutions. Programming is the ideal place to alter and improve the individual labor model for those actually doing the work in the industry -- AND while enhancing efficiency that actually reduces the development costs -- which HAS TO HAPPEN if we want to create new work. In other words -- the productivity of the ship building and gun making industries increased dramatically -- but the labor model also changed. The craftsmen were mostly displaced -- and replaced with cheaper, less skilled workers, but that's not as bad as it sounds. The proportional pay for a given skill level actually increased -- which is what it seems that everyone wants now. That wasn't as notable in the past because of what also occurred. The capital intensive nature of these big industries -- mostly produced great fortunes for the industry owners, and that's what was much more visible. Still, even with that said there were no losers (except possibly the old craftsmen -- who never really produced all the much in quantity and did so very expensively). The programming industry has a unique potential to improve dramatically on that. With the primary capital expense of programming being human capital, intellectual capital -- it should be possible to allow this industry to further evolve the labor model bringing more people into it -- with admittedly fewer skills -- than the experienced "craftsmen" presently doing ALL the work and doing very expensively. All these new workers will be paid proportionally more for those fewer skills -- AND simultaneously influence the other side of the equation -- which is what makes all this possible. Higher productivity in the industry -- and reducing costs -- inherently creates new work -- and can do so to such a level that all these new lower skills workers should still be in short supply and relatively well paid. The unit labor cost must fall and unit labor productivity must rise to make this happen. The way that happens --- is by a change in the industry development model -- more or less the same type of change that occurred with ship building and gun making, but with a big advantage for programmers. Because of the intellectual capital structure of programming -- the benefits of this change could be more equitably distributed to the participants involved in that change. Inevitably we will be the ones to make that happen by finding ways that we can structure what we do to make it more efficient, less costly, accessible to more people with lower skill levels, and most importantly for the last ---- as I've said before -- directly tying our productivity to the benefits it produces -- which will result in everyone -- newbie and craftsman alike -- earning a higher return on their proportional contribution. Isn't that what we all want? Thanks, I feel better now, Dru 303 666-7665 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To Unsubscribe visit http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists&body=lists/cf_jobs or send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with 'unsubscribe' in the body.
