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Gates On Future of CS Education

lilrowdy18 writes "In an interesting article from Eweek, Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates talks about how the lack of spending in research and development is 'kind of a crime'. He also talks about future problems that are facing the computer industry including outsourcing and the speed of upcoming processors." From the article: "Microsoft taps both native-born talent and foreign talent, but Gates said he is frustrated that more U.S. students are not going into computer science. 'The fastest growing major is physical education,' he said. 'The Chinese are going to wake up and say we missed this opportunity,' he joked."

8 of 563 comments (clear)

  1. But... by TheOtherAgentM · · Score: 0, Troll

    Just think of all the nerds we can beat up!

  2. Re:Donation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Wasn't giving software to someone for free supposed to be anti-American or something?

    Only if it is non-functional, insecure open-sores crap like Lunix, FreeBSE or such.

    VB is a good product that will fit in well with the US-American style of education.

  3. Re:It doesn't help... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Mindlessly doing what your told is more descriptive of the CS folks I know then the soldiers I know. Of course, the Anti-American segment of the left wing feels compelled to attack our soldiers for the same reason Al-Zarquawi does.

  4. Re:Ok, I will troll a bit... by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: -1, Troll

    How comes that I can't bloody call Europe from a payphone in Chicago airport?

    Don't know what you were doing, but I used to call my wife in Santiago Chile from O'Hare.

    Why doesn't my damn GSM mobile work?

    Don't know. My cell phone doesn't work in Europe either. Must be something wrong with the European cell phone system.

    Number of complimentary internet connections: 0

    What do expect from a bunch of Chemical Engineers?

    My Diners stopped working for a couple of days, and the Visa was dead.

    Pay your bills? I've travelled all over the world on my credit cards; the only place I had problems was in Chonju, Korea.

    The statue of Liberty is small!!

    What do you expect? It's a gift from the French. Everyone knows the French are cheap.

    Why are still stuck in the stone, pound and foot age?

    The alternative is French.

    Times square: it's not square to begin with, and it's ludicrously small

    Big enough for a million people on New Years Eve. What more do you want?

    Ok, there are people who speak other language than English

    Typical Euro chavanism. I speak 3 languages, my wife 7.

    Sorry for the people governed by these beasts, but for me it was an experience to see the closest thing to a Nazi rally I will ever witness (I hope).

    The real Nazis came from Europe. These beasts are the sons and daughters of those who broke the Atlantic wall to help free Europe from those Nazis, and funded the Marshall plan, the Berlin airlift and much of the military that kept Europe free over the past half century. Of course it is too much to expect that someone educated in Europe would have any knowledge of such a thing.

    At least not in the level of technology the citizens

    I don't know about that. I've travelled all over the world - Europe, Asia, South America. Sure, there are some things (cell phones) that have greater acceptance in other countries than in the US, probably because their land lines never worked very well. But each country has its idiosyncracies. Many European countries haven't even got up to the idea that mail should be delivered on a regular schedule yet, or that hotel rooms should be reasonably sized and clean, or that you shouldn't have to bribe a public official to get some paperwork processed.

  5. Re:I was considering majoring in CS, but... by Frank+T.+Lofaro+Jr. · · Score: 0, Troll

    Many posters here on Slashdot won't get a clearance because their politics are too left. Even though many of us have moved to the right after 9/11, they'll see something you posted earlier on and hold it against you, or even something current, such as being against the broadcast flag - could make you seem "too left".

    If you get a CS degree now, your "career" will be spending days asking "Do you want fries with that?" (or "Usted desea las fritadas con eso?" - you need to know Spanish to get any job in any major city with a lot of customer interaction it seems - yes I know there is a leading vertically inverted question mark at the beginning of the Spanish - blame Slashdot for eating it - Slashcode isn't internationalized - or reliable - or portable to any real database - but I digress) and nights spent surfing monster.com on a 486 over a 14400 dialup trying unsuccessfully to find work in the IT field.

    Unless you live in India, it which case, GO FOR IT! YOU'LL GET A JOB IN NO TIME!

    --
    Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
  6. Re:Donation by Directrix1 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Oh the philanthropy! But seriously, is it even legal for a corporation to do something purely for the philanthropic sake of it. Doesn't it have to be for the purposes of generating revenue. They want to ensure programmers stay with their platform. If they do, then they will continue to thrive because Windows is only used because it has a lot of crap written for it (and it's familiar). I believe Microsoft is legally obliged to be incapable of a truly philanthropic act, like every big corporation.

    You should always read between the lines with these guys. They know how to write in very small type.

    --
    Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
  7. Re:I was considering majoring in CS, but... by metamatic · · Score: 0, Troll
    I'm not sure what more you could ask for other than a northern California location or free money.

    A clean conscience?

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
  8. Right, and France is doing awesome! by Shihar · · Score: 0, Troll

    "The only way to fix it is to pass new laws. No more outsourcing of jobs. All companies must have a pension package. No lay offs unless the union okay's it. And every company must have a union, or the workers must collectivly agree on pay and terms."

    This has been tried. See France. Last time I checked France was in the middle of tremendous social turmoil because their economy is tanking, unemployment is over 10%, and their government is broke. Germany is in the same position. Right now things have gotten so bad that the two top candidates for chancellor are not arguing if they should start to undo their social policies, but how much do they want to undo them.