On Mon, 2012-04-23 at 18:10 -0400, Dan Trevino wrote: > A somewhat more positive story about software development and > gainesville/uf. > > http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120327/articles/120329611
It is and it isn't. MindTree is based out of Bangalore, India and what they are doing is symptomatic of the times. First we sent jobs by the scores off-shore. Then it turned out that many of those offshore project needed feet on the ground locally, Some of that could be managed by shipping in H1-B or L-1 talent, but lately the H-1B in particular has come under a lot of scrutiny, so the Indians are hiring native talent. The choice of Gainesville was probably as much because of its value as a "near-shoring" location as it was because of the educational facilities. Although there are some venerable technology companies located in Gainesville such as Barr, it's not a major high-tech hub. But it does have a semi-rural cost of living, which is a major point for near-shoring. No place in the USA can compete with India on cost of living - the price of a sandwich, chips and Coke at Subway would buy lunch for a week in Bangalore, but rural locations can get closer than high-rent districts like Silicon Valley and Boston. For the record, I have no complaint with what MindTree or, for that matter, any of the other Indian companies are doing (disclaimer: I own stock in some of them). However, the forces that helped form endeavors like this are the selfsame forces that continue to put downward pressure on what had once been a very comfortable profession. Those forces are ultimately ourselves. Tim > On Apr 23, 2012 5:39 PM, "A.Padilla" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Can't look at it as a trade. CS is a good degree but it won't > > guarantee you riches. It's what you do with the degree that > > determines how you'll end up. > > > > On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 4:45 PM, Tim Holloway <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I went 1 term at UF and never did do a CS class there. I left because > > > while there are a lot of appealing things about a large and complex > > > school and I enjoyed the academics and cultural facilities, the student > > > were entirely too grim. I could have found a friendlier crowd in > > > Manhattan at rush hour. Of course, I was also pushing 30 at the time, > > > which meant that by the reckoning of most students I was in the advanced > > > stages of mummification. > > > > > > Even back then, their programs struck me as a little odd, being split > > > mostly between the engineering and business schools. They also hadn't > > > yet discovered the C Programming Language, even though I'd been teaching > > > it at FJC a year or so earlier. Still, my jaw dropped when I read the > > > news about UF dismantling its CS department. > > > > > > I first heard of UCF at a meeting of the UF ACM chapter. Every year > > > there's a programming contest, and UCF was considered a Force to Be > > > Reckoned With. Later, I moved down to Orlando and transferred to UCF and > > > found out why. While I'm not a big fan of programming contests as a > > > measure of ability, the UCF ACM had a well-honed machine, and it > > > routinely did well against big-league competitors like MIT and > > > Singapore. > > > > > > I have a lot of respect for UCF's CS and engineering programs, even > > > though circumstances kept me from ever graduating. UCF also established > > > a proper research park in its vicinity. UNF tried to, but about the best > > > they could manage was an AOL call center. Speaking of which, I'm sorry > > > to report that I haven't exactly been inundated with volunteers on my > > > own little pet geek project. Are we really THAT primitive around here? > > > > > > Anyway, regardless of the relative merits of various colleges, the > > > brutal fact is that CS is not the best of career choices anymore. I > > > think we've pretty much bottomed out on the offshoring thing, but that > > > doesn't mean that Happy Days are Here Again, or likely to be so anytime > > > soon. While it should be relatively easy to enter the field while you're > > > still at the bottom of your earnings potential and willing to work > > > insane hours, age discrimination and the Wal-Mart effect on salaries > > > mean that paying off that student loan may prove difficult. Not that > > > there are a whole lot of other professions that can offer more hope > > > right now. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Archive http://marc.info/?l=jaxlug-list&r=1&w=2 > > > RSS Feed http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml > > > Unsubscribe [email protected] > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Archive http://marc.info/?l=jaxlug-list&r=1&w=2 > > RSS Feed http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml > > Unsubscribe [email protected] > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive http://marc.info/?l=jaxlug-list&r=1&w=2 RSS Feed http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml Unsubscribe [email protected]
