🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1hd86pINNigi@access.usask.ca> choy@skorpio.usask.ca (I am a terminator.) writes:
>
>Are labor costs too high here. Should we be happy with less? Or are
>the people overseas too tolerant? What's it like to work overseas?

"Too high" is a subjective description.  Costs are higher here
than in many other countries.  People overseas have had much less
for a long time.  So, they are accustomed to much less.  Their cost
of living and their standard of living are lower.  Therefore,
the cost of hiring them is lower.  Therefore, manufacturers
hire them for manufacturing now.  They'll hire them for engineering
tomorrow.

>|> The only way for you and me to maintain our standard of
>|> living is to be able to do things that the overseas types can't do.
>|> Maybe we can get an edge somehow.
>                                      [Rizzo]
>
>Engineers can improve themselves quickly if they have better access to
>good information. Also a procedure for performing engineering work is
>needed.
>I go to the store and see crap on the shelves. The stuff that isn't
>crap is too expensive. I'm accumulating a lot of stuff and it's hard to
>convince me to buy one more thing unless it's really nice. It seems the
>quality of goods must increase exponentially with time to attract buyers.

Yes.  Product quality is important.  American manufacturers are
finally realizing this.  But, frankly, many firms haven't a clue
as to how to DESIGN quality into a product.  Many of them
still use screening tests to select out defective product.
This approach has been shown to be less than ideal, by the Japanese.

>Engineering design quality likely should increase exponentially with
>time. The infrastructure quality has to increase exponentially to permit
>engineering work to increase. For example, I'm working on a clunky
>Dec 5000/120 connected to a 10 Mbit/s Ethernet. The computer is 1 yr
>old, and I want a Dec Alpha connected to fiber. With a 10 Gb hard drive
>and a 30" screen. 100 Mb of RAM. I'm always taking things to the limits.
>If the limits grow, I go faster. I work better. The world becomes a
>better place.

As your management sees it, the world becomes a more expensive
place in which to do business. ;-(

Tony Rizzo (att.com!hogpb!rizzo)