Technology Spending On The Rise 355
securitas writes "After the technology industry's so-called nuclear winter that has resulted in thousands of lost jobs over the last three years, the New York Times' Steve Lohr reports that technology spending is finally increasing (Google / mirror). Much of the investment in hardware and software is spurred by the natural corporate replacement cycle, but the positive change offers a glimmer of hope for techies everywhere. IBM CEO Sam Palmisano says that IBM plans 'to add 10,000 workers in fields of emerging demand over the next year.' Based on IBM's current Linux advertising campaign and market projections, this will probably mean hiring staff who are knowledgeable about Linux and open source software. Is this just a blip as some analysts believe, or is it the beginnings of a resurgence for the technology sector?"
Merrill Lynch (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Merrill Lynch (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Merrill Lynch (Score:3, Insightful)
Sivaram Velauthapillai
Re:Merrill Lynch (Score:4, Interesting)
Big company CIOs may say what they like, but it's typical during a recession for lots of new companies to take root and spring up and become the great companies of the next boomtime (1980 Microsoft, Intel; 1990 Cisco, for example). Being thrown out of work by job displacement or bankruptcy is traumatic and painful but also causes a reevaluative process that stirs the creative juices. It's a scenario that's been repeated many times in the U.S.
I would take what CIOs say with a grain of salt; we will see another era of economic expansion and job growth in areas that most of us don't currently imagine. As usual it will be the few lucky and/or visionary folks who forge the path; certainly it won't be the stuffy, overpayed technocrats of the old guard.
Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen (Score:2, Interesting)
Why?
KFG
Re:Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen (Score:5, Interesting)
Why?
People buying new boxes to run their old applications faster does occur sometimes, but isn't the historical norm.
Why?
I have not proposed anything. It is not unreasonable, however, to question both historical norms and historical behaviours and assuming historical norms might well get one into trouble.
So, since we're having a bit of trouble over low level questions let me aim one slightly higher above the horizon.
What feature of the new systems (other than speed) do you see as opening support for new apps that answer some need of business?
One can also ask ( and bear in mind that this is a different question) what app do you see business perceiving some need for that the new machines allow that the old ones didn't?
One thing that seems apparent to me is that one of the possible attributes of a new app over an old from the business point of view is that it takes fewer people to implement and maintain than the old one. In the context of jobs newer more powerful machines with better apps may well mean fewer jobs for people.
This has also been the historical norm for sufficiently large quantities of "history."
Do you propose a new historical norm?
KFG
Re:Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen (Score:5, Interesting)
Massive amounts of data storage capacity for the buck. Storage capacity growth has been increasing at greater than Moore's Law rates, and at the same time we have been accumulating 800 MB of data per every man woman and child on the face of the Earth every year. The need to manage all of this with software is a staggering business need, and will lead to lots of new software development.
Another area in computer hardware that has been increasing at ridiculous rates is network bandwidth. This has been increasing faster than even storage capacity. The problem with taking advantage of this has been entrenched industrial concerns. Eventually, although maybe not this business cycle bandwidth growth will trigger ANOTHER software revolution where people will truly become walking network nodes. When that happens most offices will totally disappear.
The fact is I think we haven't seen anything yet, and the Internet boom was just the first and weakest wave of what is yet to come.
Re:Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen (Score:5, Insightful)
The vast majority of that data is untouched, and will remain untouched, by business. No business has any interest in storing a duplicate copy of every book on your shelf or a duplicate copy of every CD you own (on a one to one basis).
Only a few megs per person is a business concern.That's still a lot of data.
The technology to handle this amount of data (indeed any amount of data) is already known, although poorly implimented.That's a market issue, not a computing one. A proper implimentation would requiring the hiring of more well educated people, but fewer people overall than is now required. Business resents a dependence on education ("training" is not education. A dog may be trained. A dog can't perform analytical logic), but will resort to it, however reluctantly, when it shows significant financial advantage.
You can always pray for more XML "technology." Yeah, that'll create a lot of jobs for awhile. Pointless and annoying jobs, but jobs nonetheless. (Type "Hello World" in Kword and save as raw XML. Count how many pages of text and files it takes. Virtually all of that text is redundant, but must be stored and "managed").
Eventually, although maybe not this business cycle bandwidth growth will trigger ANOTHER software revolution where people will truly become walking network nodes. When that happens most offices will totally disappear.
And in what way will this increase IT jobs? Remember the context of this discussion is IT jobs.
It will also require a social revolution. Social revolutions happen slowly. Much of our social structure today is medieval and completely out of step with our technology, and even how we want to live, and yet it persists.
As an example, phone tech support can now be outsourced to anywhere in the world, and yet most people doing such support must travel to an office to perform their tasks even though the technology could just as easily support their jobs from their homes.
Most jobs aren't really about performing tasks. They are about hierarchical control. The people who wield the control like it that way. For some reason that escapes me so do the controled.
The boss also likes his fancy office in the fancy building with the fancy receptionist. Wall Street isn't about to turn into a gathering of little cottages with English gardens within our lifetimes.
KFG
Re:Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen (Score:5, Interesting)
count on it.
Re:Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen (Score:2)
You got it all wrong
Perhaps a bit tongue in cheek there, but my upgrades have usually been due to the software I already "owned" which would run annoyingly slow (once it was forced due to hardware breakdown). Heck, I got my first CD-ROM because programs stopped coming on floppies. Of course, an anecdote or two from a single person doesn't qualify as a national trend - still, I bet I'm not the only one whose upgrading is for
Re:Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, I think the grandparent poster has it backwards. I buy new hardware because of software I already own. Or, in other cases, I buy new hardware because of software I would like to own. I don't go out and buy hardware and then go out and see what I can run on it. That doesn't make sense at all. I buy hardware to satisfy a need, not to create a need.
Re:Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen (Score:2, Interesting)
KFG>Why?
Because most companies run Windows. You have an engrained outsourced techs (what I do) reccomend Windows on everything because it breaks down. That equals more money for us. Also, people need the newest version of XYZ program (Office for example). To run Office 2003 on Win95 equlivalent hardware is asking for a mutiny.
And since Linux has grown much since th
Re:Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Indeed, I see the same thing starting to happen (Score:3, Interesting)
In the last two weeks I have had three interviews (two in one day) and I have another interview tomorrow. I have people calling me saying things like "We
Well, what's the average desktop life? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Well, what's the average desktop life? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Well, what's the average desktop life? (Score:2, Insightful)
Computers do not get slower as they age. Just as digital clocks don't start loosing time as they age.
Don't pointlessly upgrade your software.
I know of a plumbing business that keeps it's customer address book, complete with driving directions and previous work histories, in text on a Commodore 64. The guy has two spares he bought at garage sales for $5 each, and said he will upgrade when he's down to one left.
He's smarter than anyone on slashdot.
Re:Well, what's the average desktop life? (Score:2)
You know what? The 2Ghz I have at work I know is a good machine. The problem is WinXP. It has so many points of delay that the speed of the machine is irrelevant in many cases. I mean, buying a faster machine won't remove those delays. So why upgrade? In this respect, MS is not helping the hardware industry.
Re:Well, what's the average desktop life? (Score:2, Interesting)
Separately, where I work still has two of the original three PCs purchased when the company was formed. The third was water damaged beyond safe repair.
Re:Well, what's the average desktop life? (Score:4, Insightful)
Basically, comptuers are getting too fast. Untill someone comes up with the next absolutly killer app that requires tons of horsepower, I think that we'll see computer sales and replacements stay low (except for CAD, video editing, and other horsepower intensive stuff).
Re:Well, what's the average desktop life? (Score:5, Funny)
Don't worry, Longhorn is in the pipeline. Honest!
Re:Well, what's the average desktop life? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Well, what's the average desktop life? (Score:3, Interesting)
But you're right; for things that are worthwhile uses for a computer, almost no client-side apps make the user sit and wait for the computer to finish thinking. Nowadays power users run 10+ apps at a time, ripping and playing back MP3s, or maybe showi
Re:Well, what's the average desktop life? (Score:2, Funny)
There's an idea: Start a rumor of a 2004 date bug. If they buy the Help Nigeria email scam, they will buy this too.
Its coming back. Slowly. (Score:3, Interesting)
Dang it...... (Score:5, Funny)
Sorry, sorry. That's just the government cheese talking.
dear fascist bully boy, (Score:3, Funny)
Give me more money, you bastard.
May your seed bear fruit in the belly of your woman.
Love,
Neal. (not the coyboy)
Economy on the rise? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Economy on the rise? (Score:2)
Thanks!
Re:Economy on the rise? (Score:2)
Interesting, because my company just had its ass kicked in Q3. How do you explain that?
Re:Economy on the rise? (Score:2)
Re: Economy on the rise? (Score:2)
> supposedly the US growth is around 7% of GDB in the *last quarter* [translation: 'off the charts']
I only turn half an ear to the economic news, but I'm pretty sure I heard the news follow up that report by saying consumer spending had already dropped again during September. It may still be a bit soon for chicken counting.
No (Score:5, Insightful)
Not quite... (Score:2, Insightful)
However, in the real world, it doesn't quite work that way, especially when you're talking about industries that require skilled workers. For one, it takes effort to seek out qualified workers, so companies will only do this if they really need more workers and they think that they will continue to do this in the future. For another, firing employees damages goodwill, so companies are rightly reluctant to do it when not n
Re:No (Score:2)
Ever hear of something called a jobless recovery? Eventually technology will automate a lot of people out of work. Then they can either "adapt" to a new "make work" shit-job, welfare, the military, or homelessness ... unless society chooses to deal with abundance less greedily.
--
NO Re:No (Score:2)
Re:No (Score:2)
It's called progress, and is the reason that the standard of living improves with time. It used to be that 90% of the population lived on farms because growing food was so labor intensive.
What we are facing over the next 20 years is a MASSIVE labor shortage as the boomers retire. The result of this will be a large increase in individual worker productivity because businesses will be forced to automate to get the most from the few workers the
I don't know about you, (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I don't know about you, (Score:2)
Re:I don't know about you, (Score:2)
ready, (Score:2)
Microsoft is dead, all hail the true kings of order.
IBM plans... (Score:5, Interesting)
Think there was a typo there (Score:2)
I think they meant: And Mr. Palmisano took the unusual step of saying that I.B.M. planned to add 10,000 workers in fields of emerging nations over the next year. Still not clear on why IBM needs field workers...
Re:IBM plans... (Score:2)
So... India.
They have not announced how many they plan to fire in America... yet.
Re:IBM plans... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:IBM plans... (Score:2)
Let's also remember that it's not unusual for companies like IBM to lay off or terminate the contracts of a thousand employees with their left hand, and still hire another thousand employees with their right hand.
Poor basis for arguments (Score:4, Informative)
As for India, you can be sure that the overall poor services rendered and lack of accountability will start stinging companies hard. Go look on www.theinquirer.net and search for HP on the quality of customer service outsourced to India. You can't save a sinking ship when so many people live in poverty like India. In fact, by your implied logic it will only increase the differences between the haves and the have-nots.
I will clear the conscience of anyone who wants to mod the parent down: you are not accepting the viewpoint of the parent, you are simply removing a weakly-worded argument from the view of most.
Re:Poor basis for arguments (Score:2)
Have you seen their "subsudised housing"? Those places make gangster hideouts look like mansions. And yes, I know they're devaluing their currency to do it.
>>>As for India, you can be sure that the overall poor services rendered and lack of accountability will start stinging comp
General Economy Resurgence (Score:3, Insightful)
Flame if you want but remember, getting the economy to work has never been a set in stone progress... maybe Bush's plan really will work
Re:General Economy Resurgence (Score:5, Insightful)
No flame, just a cautious disagreement. There were a lot of headlines this week about the economy finally doing well, but it was based on GDP numbers. I'm not sure how much the war in Iraq is affecting that, but I'm sure it is having some impact. Lots of manufacturing is needed to repair the damage. In addition, consumer spending went up in the 3rd quarter, but there are problems with that: Part of it is the spending of the latest tax refund. And part of it is the continued hot real estate buying as a result of historic low interest rates.
Why are those problems? The war is not something to base long-term economic revival on, and can easily mask hidden GDP weakness. Tax refunds are one-off events. And real estate has gotten about as hot as it can for now since rates will not go lower, but will go higher in the next year.
There's a bigger problem: This "recovery" doesn't look like one to the average wage-earner. Note this look at wage and salary income [epinet.org] and how this "recovery" doesn't look like other recoveries in the past. If the average guy doesn't see benefits, there will be no real recovery. Thow in massive deficit spending and a pending credit crunch when interest rates inevitably rise, and I'm not yet convinced that we are seeing a real recovery.
See? Not a flame. Just a reasoned disagreement. I would be interested in people's views of the above.
Re:General Economy Resurgence (Score:2)
One thing that people have a hard time understanding is that the wage earner doesn't see a recovery until it is well underway. Businesses don't hire until they absolutely have to - until their current staff is saturated, and they can't get enough contractors to get the work done.
Job creation is a 'trailing indicator'; when it starts improving the recovery is already well underway.
Leading indicators are things like building permits, intere
Re:General Economy Resurgence (Score:2)
"Leading indicators are things like building permits, interest rates, stock prices, and so on. These have been positive for a while now."
Hmm...but that's also the problem. Building permits have been positive, but probably we've seen the hight point for now. With interest rates this low this long, those who wanted to buy or re-mortgage have done so. Which ties into in
Re:General Economy Resurgence (Score:2)
Re: General Economy Resurgence (Score:5, Informative)
> In addition to the manufacturing to repair the damages from the war, do not forget the following impacts on the consumer side of the economy:
Actually, the families of many of the National Guard members are suffering a great deal of economic hardship right now, because for many of them their military pay is far less than the civilian jobs they left when they were called up.
Re:General Economy Resurgence (Score:2)
Estimates of the Bush tax cuts is that we get something like $500,000 of deficit spending per new job created. I'm not sure what they wanted these tax cuts for, but they clearly weren't tuned to provide maximum job creation at minimum cost.
I don't know that the war is causing that much economic activity. Deficit spending is my big worry. Deficits lead to higher inflation, which causes the Fed to raise interest rates. Higher interest rates tend to push housing down. Since
Re:General Economy Resurgence (Score:2)
I agree that is the likely way rates will go up, but it could still be a problem. If consumers have been propping up the economy as best they can (which they have) by borrowing instead of getting real wage gains (which is how
Re:General Economy Resurgence (Score:2)
Yes, I noticed that when I first saw this page. Of course, I suppose in today's corporate world any group that looks out for workers is automatically "leftist." Still, it's the numbers I found interesting, not who reported it. Do you know the numbers are wrong? If not, isn't the point of the numbers still of significance, regardless of the messenger?
I think what it really comes down to (Score:2)
I think that both Clinton and Bish have had rather
Re: I think what it really comes down to (Score:2)
> Is that the president has much less effect on the economy than most people think, ask any economist.
Directly, yes. But remember that about 2/3 of the American economy is consumer spending, so consumer confidence is a weighty matter. A friend analyzes it as the President being "the national cheerleader" for the economy. If people think his economic policies are going to benefit them, their confidence goes up and then their spending goes up. And vice versa.
This isn't the whole story, because it's sup
Still Not Enough Time (Score:2)
While I agree with the several year lag time theory, it actually works against the idea that recent positive developments have anything to do with the current administration's policies. Bush et all will have been setting
Re:General Economy Resurgence (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:General Economy Resurgence (Score:3, Funny)
(funniest part is, half the wild-eyed libs are already posting shit like that)
Re: General Economy Resurgence (Score:2)
> We can't have the economy come back, then people will credit Bush and he'll have to get re-elected! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa! :)
> (funniest part is, half the wild-eyed libs are already posting shit like that)
Modulo the screaming, it's a pretty good call. USAians tend to vote for whoever they think will provide them with the highest bank balance. Our society is very polarized over other political and social issues right now, with about a 50/50 split between the two parties that matter, so unless there's a
Cylcical (Score:2)
Re:Cylcical (Score:2)
Ummm (Score:2, Interesting)
Hardware is almost completely put together by machines - no jobs for humans at all.
Software is rapidly becoming more and more self repairing and remote or centrally managed - no jobs there. And open source is free, that's a hobby not a job.
How exactly does corporate spending mean jobs again? Oh yea, it doesn't.
And don't forget the new business mantra "We're hiring, just no Americans, we're not stupid".
Re:Ummm (Score:2, Insightful)
Every time corporations spend more money someone, somewhere along the line has a job and more jobs are being created. Even if company A is only buying new computers, someone, somewhere has to be employed to sell the computers, build the computers, build the software to go on the computers, support the computers, and on and on and on.
Re: It all makes sense in your head... (Score:2)
Do you think just because you make a statement, we are to immediately believe it?
Wake up! It isn't happening! It won't happen!
Supply and demand works for people too. In time, human labor will be irrelevant for production. This is the inevitable result of technological progress. Now, you may want to believe there is something else over the rainbow, some new work that revolutionizes work.
Re:Ummm (Score:3, Funny)
Yes, I noticed software that. Software on my computer self-repairs every couple of days.
You have no idea where prgramming jobs really are (Score:4, Insightful)
Right before I went to college I saw an ad in a compter magazine for a program called "The Last One" meant to replace programmers everywhere. I still got a CS degree, and lo and behold!! There were still jobs, just as there are, now and will be for some time. Even nanotech will not change the need for programming jobs.
Like the car industry, but faster... (Score:2, Insightful)
I have to laugh when people act as though software jobs will never return. We just have to learn what niche of software we fit into. Software QA, management, and specialized programming jobs will continue to be available, and I think they will grow trem
Technology Purchases are always Periodic (Score:5, Interesting)
No one should be surprised by this. Likewise, no one should be surprised when the computer buying cools down in a year or so. Why? Because you only need so many PCs.
Clue. (Score:2)
If PCs were all there were to it, that would be true. Real services are still needed out there. Many people are STILL running on paper. Paperless billing, records keeping and research are relativly new and cost effective. Not everyone has gone there yet. There's still plenty of growth space in real services, though the M$ Outlook will make you superman is tapped out.
Economy for Slashdotters (Score:4, Insightful)
Shit don't stay good forever.
If you're one of the boo-birds that dismisses every indication of improvement, you're an idiot.
If you're one of the optimists that ignored every indication of the "dotcom's" impending collapse, you were an idiot.
Stuff has been bad. Stuff is getting better.
IBM is Poised to Do Very Well, methinks (Score:5, Insightful)
I think there's chinks in most of the other big company's armour because they each have a 'religious' ball and chain holding them back:
Re:IBM is Poised to Do Very Well, methinks (Score:3, Interesting)
Sadly, management and bean counters (the ones that generally end up having the final say in what servers are bought) don't care about this...that's why they hired sysadmins they say...and here's a clue for you...IBM is one of the biggest offshore outsourcers...especially to IBM India...
SGI has serious marketing problems.
No, SGI has serious market problems. they can no longer sel
That sucking noise (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:That sucking noise (Score:2, Informative)
Re:That sucking noise (Score:2)
Well, I'll say this for Reagan, he did stick it out in the fiscal slugfest with the CCCP and won a very important match. The problem is that W wants to be Rocky II and he's fiscally tiring the USA out agai
Nobody Knows (Score:3, Insightful)
Some cycles are routine enough to be usable any time.
The simple fact that there is a growing population as well as a growing government in the US indicates there will be at least some sort of spending to accomodate these people.
Further, the growth of government and associated functions (e.g. financial, medical, personal records accessable for Patriot Act requires more technology) indicates added spending.
The backbreaker is how to make predictions which show growth in one venue (business IT spending) when, on the other hand, so much is being exported overseas, resulting in fewer workers earning higher salaries and fewer total workers contributing proportionally to the tax base.
Bottom line?
Just because some companies are buying more stuff does not necessarily extrapolate to a better life for the worker bees.
In fact, evidence would suggest the typical worker in a civilized country is at greater risk of financial ruin and more likely to be unemployed or underemployed in order for the companies to internalize profit by pillaging the world.
Cynical? You bet!
10,000 more jobs at IBM (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course he failed to mention that those jobs would be in India.
Stockin' up (Score:2)
Massively improving for this consultant (Score:5, Informative)
And it isn't just one client. It's coming from a lot of different directions, from a lot of different companies and industries. And nice, juicy, interesting jobs too. It was like the outsourcing switch just got turned on.
Of course, independent consultants like me are often a good six months ahead of the rest of the economy. When things get tight, consultants get cut first, and when things are looking up, consultants get hired before full-time employees, since if things turn out to be not THAT up, we're easier to get rid of.
My tech spending's gone up... (Score:3, Insightful)
In recent weeks, I've also noticed that DVD prices have gone down significantly. Both the Hulk and Matrix Rebloated were $15. I bought another DVD player for the house for $40. I bought a good DVD burner for under $200, whereas months ago it would have been $300-400. I got a cell phone for $150 where not long before it was a $300 item.
I think what has happened is prices down the board have gone down. Your hard earned dollar buys you more stuff. If this trend continues, I think we can expect more positive growth. It's hard to spend $500 on something that has questionable usefulness, but when it's $200, then it starts getting down to the "I can afford to experiment this" range.
Re:My tech spending's gone up...Silver lining. (Score:2)
First time I've heard of outsourcing actually causing prices to fall. And here I was thinking it was because technology is reaching a broader market, causing prices to drop.
Slashfinance (Score:3, Insightful)
"Is this just a blip as some analysts believe, or is it the beginnings of a resurgence for the technology sector?"
Have you Meta Analyzed lately?
Re: The Economy
by Anonymous_Analyst on Thursday, October 30 ,@8:32 AM
I think this is just a blip.
Rating: Insightful.
This rating is Unfair/Fair
IBM & Linux... (Score:3, Informative)
The problem with Linux becoming mainstream is that Linux (and as a result *NIX) knowledge is starting to become more widespread and therefore less of a commodity...
I think you will start to see more Linux positions, but they will be paying much less than before...
Of course, as always it is my opinion that the real good ppl will still be paid highly, they will just have to take on more jobs or more demanding positions...
Picking up in the mid-west (Score:5, Informative)
Not at the same pace, mind you - most companies after having been scared away from IT are just realizing that doing business requires the technology to stay competitive. They aren't hiring at the trumped up rates of a few years ago, but they are at least acknowleding the need and beginning to take steps to fill roles.
Re:Picking up in the mid-west (Score:3, Informative)
Ditto here--I managed pretty nicely as a consultant for the last few years. I'm not rich, but I was living well. Then, this summer, all of a sudden the horizons just dried up.
Summers here tend to be pretty grim anyway for consultants, but this one took the cake. There was literally nothing around.
Then, all of a sudden, in September the phone began ringing. Job interviews, requests for help, new projects, everything hit within a few weeks.
We've always had more business around October and March, and we
It's all Bush's fault .... (Score:3, Insightful)
This 3rd quarter GDP boom is all George W. Bush's fault .... wait a sec ... the GDP boom is probably a good thing .... George W. Bush had nothing to do with it!
On a serious note folks, when things were not looking very good I heard a lot of people on Slashdot (and everywhere else) placing the blame squarely on Bush. Now that things are looking better, and if they continue to get better, will the same people give him any credit? I highly doubt it, but it will be entertaining to see how they can justify not giving him credit for a good economy when they could justify giving him grief for a bad one.
I personally belive that the president doesn't have all the much control over the economy. Don't get me wrong, he has some degree of control, but not much as many people would like to believe.
Re:It's all Bush's fault .... (Score:4, Interesting)
will see. there are other factors:
1) previouly unemployes persons now getting jobs to replace all the men and women who get to go to the desert and die for oil.
2) The war machine will create an increased demand in certian secotors, as well as the supporting sectors.
The president can have a huge impact on the economy. Perhaps Bush should make some efforts to institute programs to get people working. Interior stuff, then I'd be impressed.
As much as People hate to here this, making the internet open to the public sparked the last boom.
I have grave doubts that Bush would have opened it up the same way. I'm pretty sure if he had his hand in it, it would have been opened up to corps. probably through some FCC like liscensing.
This is not a Dem vs. Rep statment. I base this on Bush's history.
The funny thing about spending... (Score:3, Interesting)
Example - a small office wants a network. They want to share files and printers. They want a central location for files that can be backed up easily and taken off site. They have the PCs and will never have more then 5 at the site, currently they have 3 -- two with XP home and one with Windows 98.
My bid? $3000. This was cost of the cable, running, the router, a network storage device and a cdrw installed in one machine for the backups.
The winning bid? $12,000. Other bids? $15,000 and $22,000.
I know the 15k and 22k bids included some insane server setup situation. The 12k bid had a setup not far from mine
So in this case, spending went up
Machiavelli's Rule (Score:3, Interesting)
IBM India research center (Score:4, Informative)
Re:there's no new tech compared to nineties intern (Score:5, Funny)
Computers fast enough to run Java without flinching?
No one mentions that alot of IT jobs are going (Score:5, Insightful)
Warren Buffet has commented on the IT situation and has said that there should be a tax on companies that send jobs overseas.
It always seems to come down to benefits of cheaper labor making goods less expensive which does help an economy out by making it more competitive . I get kind of confused by it all.
Re:How many of those jobs are overseas? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:How many of those jobs are overseas? (Score:2, Insightful)
It ended about the same time that people who were perfectly willing to work hard couldn't get a job at all, let alone a decent one.