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America's Future Is In Software, Not Hardware
New submitter tcjr2006 writes "Obama's State of the Union focused on the return of manufacturing jobs to America. This New Yorker story makes the case that the manufacturing jobs aren't going to come back, and he should be focusing on software. Quoting: 'Yes, there are industries where manufacturing jobs can be brought back to America through proper tax incentives and training programs. But maybe he should have talked more about the things that he could do to keep software jobs here. He spoke of federal funding for university and scientific research. But a real pro-software agenda would also include reforming patent law to stop trolling (and perhaps eliminating software patents altogether); increasing H-1B visas for highly skilled coders; stopping Congress from defunding DARPA, whose research helped create Siri, the iPhone’s talking assistant; and opening up the unused, federally owned wireless spectrum. That agenda wouldn’t bring Apple’s manufacturing jobs back, but it would help to keep the company’s coding jobs here. And it would certainly help develop "an economy that’s built to last."'"
We can eat it, wear it, breathe it... What the hell kind of society will this be if everyone just writes software all day?
increasing H-1B visas for highly skilled coders
How is increasing the number of workers supposed to decrease the unemployment rate?
It is far less expensive to have a group overseas develop software. Not better, just cheaper. The same economics apply, but unlike hardware there are zero tariffs or import taxes to pay (not that there are many for hardware).
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
... if we don't seriously fund education for the next generation, and stop thinking we can skimp on that commitment to pay for tax breaks for the rich and extended wars of choice.
Check your premises.
Says the man posting to a computer on a network whoich started as a DARPA project.
Seems that the future of USA is in trivial patents, copyrighting culture, making that lasting forever and pushing that to the rest of the world. Why develop if you already get paid if someone anywhere tries to use common sense to solve a problem in the only possible way?
Is it because workers are treated better or is it because they are cheaper?
How is it that The Netherlands is the world's 2nd. largest exporter of agricultural products in value after the US, is it because the country is so blessed with it's climate and available space?
I'm convinced the USofA can be a profitable exporter of manufactered goods and produce providing their managers start looking at the long term instead of just this quarters profits.
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
Chinese people aren't less than us - they are people too. Understand that as their economy improves from doing all that work that "we don't want" ours is going into the toilet. Realistically, no matter how demeaning, unglamorous, and tedious those jobs are, THEY HAVE TO BE DONE, and you can't always count on someone else to do them. If we want our economy to prosper, we have to have people willing to do all jobs that need to be done. Otherwise, it's just a matter of time before the Chinese start selling their stuff elsewhere because our currency has no value.
A "service economy" simply isn't going to work. Other countries will NOT keep sending us cheap trinkets for us to sit over here programming and making burgers for each other all day long. At this point the only reason the US economy is still afloat is because we still manage to have a large agricultural presence. If not for that, the whole country would likely be bankrupt by now.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
Beginning with the alternative hypothesis that America has a future.
The notion is fantastical.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
I have read some insane posts on the internet before, people totally disconnected from reality but this one is so far beyond insanity that it requires the invention of new words.
You think that a simple device that can spray ONE sort of plastic is going to change into a device that can make complex multi-compound materials EVEN FOOD in twenty years?
In twenty years we barely gone from spraying ink to spraying plastic. Or the other way around from devices cutting solid blocks into shapes to spraying materials into solid blocks.
And you think this is going to compete anytime soon with mass production? These maker bots are nice for some form of prototyping. Mass production turns out such plastic forms in mili-seconds, not hours.
If you wanted to make even a small lego set out of this you need days. And you want to use it for the production of a TV or even a car? What about clothes?
And even then, IF makers bots were being used, why would the location of these production machines needing an army of operators NOT be outsourced to china just as maker bots are right now?
Seriously kid, get medical help.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
For one thing, control. If you're not actually making the product then you don't control it. Why do you think apple had that problem with fake apple stores in China? Those stores were stocked with products stolen from apple factories which apple paid for because they had been listed as defective. They weren't defective. They were stolen.
For another, there's a big difference between designing something and actually building it as far as UNDERSTANDING what you're building. If you work with fabric all day for example you're going to have a deeper understanding of what is possible then if only work with a colored pencil. An issue many companies have had in outsourcing jobs is that at some point they're outsourced their key business model. In your example, why does that indian company need you at all? They can advertise their suit making operation directly in your city and direct market their clothing to your customers. By outsourcing to them you might have not only taught them how to do it but you would have shown them the market exists. After all, if your customers are willing to give you clothing, wait for you to send it to india, and then have you hand it back to them. Then couldn't the indian company just cut you out of the loop? What exactly are you offering that's worth anything?
As to not wanting to hire programmers... that's the future. Everyone is going to hire them. Some sort of deep proficiency in programming is going to become like literacy at some point. Do you need to hire people that can read? For some jobs it might not matter. But no modern business can function without at least a clerical staff that can read and write. Likewise, you're going to find that some sort of programming knowledge even if its basic will become increasingly common. Programmed computers will be our partners in all industry and having some programming ability will give businesses flexibility. We can set up cheats for this for a long time... simple tools that give people flexibility without programming knowledge. But eventually simple programming will have to go mainstream.
I could go on... but in my opinion at least your argument is a false economy. Out sourcing is fine if you don't effectively lose the expertise within your company. For example, I have no problem with letting another company sort my mail. It's not that complicated. But if I out source ALL of a certain type of skilled labor from my business then I lose that capability and my company becomes less flexible and more dependent. Lots of companies have made a lot of money doing what you're suggesting... and then gone out of business overnight.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
The article assumes more jobs are a good thing. That is a last century concept. How many people actually want to work all day? Most people do it to get the things they really want: food, a decent home, etc. The job itself is a necessary evil, and if they could get the things they wanted without it, they would. We should aim for productivity so insanely high that people don't *have* to work for a living, just like the rich do now. Then the people who actually enjoy doing whatever it takes can take care of the remaining work.
This is the direction society has been heading in since the start of the Industrial Revolution, and obviously still has a way to go to reach that goal. Once places like India and China get developed enough, corporations will inevitably look for cheap labor elsewhere. These days that is mostly Africa, and a few other spots. Once *those* get developed, there will be no cheap labor left, and corporations will inevitably pursue automation. Who will buy their stuff then, when people get put out of work by automation? Either prices will fall due to competition, or governments will tax the remaining workers and businesses enough to pay basic subsistence for everyone else.
The alternate route is "home fabrication". Your robot gardener grows the food, the garage machine shop builds "stuff" based on downloaded plans. You still have to do a little work that can't be automated, but can otherwise goof off. It beats commuting and sitting in an office for 10 hours a day. I hope one of the above futures arrives sooner rather than later.