🚀 go-pugleaf

yf@ziplip.com (Your Friend) wrote in message news:<be064478.0402050829.5fce17bf@posting.google.com>...
> 
> Now here's where it gets funky: Ricardo would say that the USA should
> innovate in technology and stop programming, and India should do the
> programming and stop innovating. If we each concentrate on our "most
> best" and then trade, more of both get produced for less ? the very
> essence of increased productivity.
> 


You can't make an "innovation vs. programming" argument.  That's
stupid.  Programmers are not analogous to factory workers assembling a
set of components for an automobile.  When it comes to software,
programmers *are* the innovators.  We work every day to "invent"
computer systems by analysis, design, and implementation.  Seems like
people outside the field of programming think we're just like highly
skilled bricklayers.  We just sit down and "churn out" code like an
assembly line worker, and that Indians should relieve us of this
menial task so we can concentrate on becoming the next Bill Gates(who
himself is a programmer).  The fact of the matter is, we can't
innovate in the computer field unless we continue to maintain a solid
base of experienced, employed programmers.  It's just that simple. 
When we ship programming jobs overseas we are not just losing "jobs",
we are losing "professions".  The outsourcing proponents will preach
about "comparative advantage".  Well, an American programmer whos
personal "comparative advantage" is programming is now being forced to
change occupations to something he or she isn't optimal at, like being
a manager doing powerpoint presentations and sitting in meetings.  And
Indians who otherwise would never even care about being a programmer
are busy writing code because it's the only high-paying career they
have a choice of doing.  Now tell me where the efficiency is?