Agreed, but the big money is in big infrastructure and 10,000 and up unit purchases, and Apple has never played well in that market.
Microsoft is very, very good at selling to the Enterprise AND the Government - and has sucked at selling to the end consumer for as long as I can remember. Which is longer than PC's have existed, having started on PDP 11's in the 1970's.
For the record I use Apple Products, and Microsoft Products, and Linux. They all have their pluses and minuses. The only area where the posters are crazy is the love of Google Play, which is a joke, anybody can put any app they want there, it's a huge collection of malware waiting to be opened. When I get something from the Apple App Store, I know somebody at least looked at the thing, and if it doesn't work, I get an immediate refund.
Whether you like it or not. most of the public Internet is about marketing. Love these posters comparing marketing to used car salesmen and lawyers. How, I wonder, did they decide to drive X brand of car, or drink Z brand of soda pop, or choose one computer over another... They consumed marketing. To those who believe that all business is inherently evil, please don't reply.
The most coveted demographic is not teenagers - it's people in their early twenties. At that point in their lives, they are making brand decisions that will remain unchanged for most of their lives. Yes, there are exceptions, but for the most part once people develop brand affinity in their early twenties they don't switch horses.
Given the proliferation of aggressive endless marketing techniques when they were growing up, most of these folks are completely immune to traditional advertising. They Tivo/DVR. They listen to downloaded/streaming music on their mobile devices, not FM radio. When they surf the web, 60% of them are mobile, and they ignore the ads at the bottom of the screen, hardly noticing them. So if you're selling ANYTHING how do you reach these people? Any way you can, that's how.
To those of us that make a living building this stuff, Twitter offers nothing, Tumblr will keep a slicer busy for a week but that's it, Instagram and pInterest are simple API's, similar to Twitter just a little more buggy and unstable... Whereas Facebook is a fairly decent platform to build apps on (after years of instability and an utter lack of Q/A) - and it offers remarkable demographics on the participants compared to everyone else.
So once again we read the story about the death of Facebook, and laugh. Because the clients who write the checks keep spending money there. And the contests, given a halfway decent acquisition strategy, return large numbers of engaged brand fans who stay engaged after the contest is over. Conversions (that's sales to you non Digital Interactive Folks) can be measured from Facebook outbound click traffic and married with the customer's key demographics. That's golden, nobody else has that.
As one who makes his living in digital interactive software development... you might stop to think that digital marketing has created a huge number of programming jobs over the last ten years. Facebook has been a major boon to millions of developers, and continues to do so.
What you've also failed to take into account is that there are more hot chicks in the marketing department... than anywhere else in the company.
You need to ignore the MSRP, nobody pays that, and factor in the incentives, typically around $7K on an F-150. My XLT 5L V8 4X4 club cab longbed with aftermarket heated leather seats and a top shelf cap came in just under $30K. And yes, I do use it to haul.. a lot.
GM is barely profitable. Ford on other hand, is very successful and profitable. Why? GM has to discount the vehicles to the point they barely make a profit just to stay afloat, and they are losing money on the Volt to a level that's unsustainable. Units sold is not the measure why which a company is measured.
So we will have a vehicle that costs more to build, and more to repair (hurting the middle class and poor folks the most as usual), may or may not be more crash worthy, and will usher in a new wave of corrosion problems. All to satisfy an arbitrary mandate that satisfies a well meaning but completely idiotic government who wants to dictate what we the people should be driving, one size fits all, and who cares what the consequences are. Of course the folks who pass these stupid mandates drive around in huge SUV's and limousines.
Glad I bought an F-150 V8 last year, hope it lasts a long time....
Like Bush's Medicare D program system screwups? (Which Republicans conveniently forgot about.)
My example was referring to private industry.vs. government. You've proven my point. Under either "party" the administration and execution of large social programs is terribly inefficient and wasteful. I also notice that you are trying to brand me an evil heartless rethugnican because I disagree with your views. Did I say what my affiliation was? Will you call me a racist next? So predictable. Can't prove you point? Start changing the subject, and then hurl insults.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with the insurance we had. Nothing. No gaps. All the employees were very happy with it. Everyone had input during the plan selection process, and employees had lots of options to choose from. What we have now is "thou shalt take the plan Uncle Sam has chosen for you" like it or not.
Because naked capitalism failed to adequately cover people, going for only the profitable low-hanging fruit. And polls have consistently shown that only roughly 35% to 40% of people were happy with the existing system.
Please cite this poll. Polls "consistently show" very little.
Because naked capitalism failed to adequately cover people,
At the moment, more people are uninsured as a result of ObamaCare than before. If the Administration would be honest about the actual numbers, we'd know how many. The lack of honesty about the numbers is proof that they are very bad.
Have you shopped for group insurance coverage? That's the most likely explanation for your ideological argument.vs. actual real life experience. Have you sat in a room and informed employees that their insurance cost is going up 40% and they are getting less coverage? I doubt it. That's what's happening in the real world with this program, in small businesses (also known as job creators) all over the country.
As I have explained in other posts, I would pay more to cover the less fortunate - I am a compassionate person. What's happening with this program is I am paying more for less coverage, and more people are uninsured. EPIC FAIL from start to finish, and the Democrats own this thing, due to their stubborn and childish inability to work together with people and get things done. "My way or the highway" is not how one accomplishes anything in life except failure.
Slashdot Business Plan for every week where nothing important actually happens (e.g. Most of the time)
On Monday, post Apple Sucks! Microsoft Rocks! Then on Tuesday post Apple Rocks, Microsoft Sucks!
On Wednesday, post Obama Rocks, Republicans Suck. Then on Thursday, post Republicans Rock, Obama Sucks.
On Friday, post something about how the world is going to end for some reason (Man, Climate, Asteroids, Aliens)
There are, after all, two ad units on each page. It would be easier to simply cut and paste the responses from last week, as they generally read the same on stories like this anyway:-)
What an interesting fantasy. When I started my business, the government did not help out at all. In fact, they created an incredible mountain of obstacles, that increased the start up cost at every turn. The business is successful, and I am punished for that, despite working 70 hour weeks for two years to build it up.
The reward for all my efforts to create job? Being declared an evil rich person once I make a penny over $250K a year. I haven't gotten there quite yet, but I will, and I will be punished more.
Nice dodge. The patriot act was rammed down the throats of Americans,
So the Democratic controlled house and Senate that voted to continue this law... did what, exactly? They could have overturned the Patriot act without a single Republican vote (This is, after all, how the ACA was passed).
Why is it that so many ideologues refuse to acknowledge reality, and just keep repeating the same narrative, over and over and over?
But most companies in the field have poor track records also. It's a field that's hard to get right.
In what field would that be? Sucking at the government teat? An insurance companies web site - funny thing - does exactly what Healthcare.gov does. Had any of the major insurers committed the architectural, design, programming, security, and implementation crimes this project did, there would be hell to pay, Congress would be screaming for an investigation, and we would be hearing for months how those evil, greedy, horrible, nasty insurance companies were only interested in greed, and didn't care about our welfare.
However, since it's the government, I predict the whole system will get a massive taxpayer "bailout" no doubt to "save jobs".
And I bet your new coverage covers more categories, even though it's more money.
You would lose that bet. My post menopausal wife has birth control coverage. What kind of idiot government bureaucrat doesn't know what menopause is? That's the only difference we can find after an exhaustive examination of the policy. Bear in mind this is a small group policy, not individual catastrophic coverage, and that all of the employees of the company are facing a forty percent premium increase. These folks have families, small children, and not a lot of extra cash lying around because times are tight, prices for basic necessities are higher, especially energy, thanks to the war on energy producers. They are all, without exception, asking the same questions:
Why is Obama waging war on the Middle Class? Why is our government doing this to us?
So I'd be very careful running around defending this crap, you might get punched in the nose.
Not only that, it was awarded to a company with a proven track record of miserable failure. On no less than TWO large "registration system" projects. But as you say they were masters of greasing skids, paying bribes, and probably bought the finest meals and best looking hookers in town.
This is why the entire Utopian "Progressive" idea of high minded super intelligent people making informed decisions for the masses is flawed from the start. There are no such people. People are greedy, and act in their own self interest FIRST, the interests of power for their "group" second, and the needs of the people last (if it all).
Personally, I am faced with a FORTY PERCENT increase in premiums, HIGHER DEDUCTIBLES, HIGHER CO-PAYS - and for what? The same exact pool of Doctors I had before. I'd pay that forty percent if the ranks of the uninsured were going to decline - I am a compassionate person - but in fact, they have gone up - by some two to three million already, with more coming next year.
San Francisco has been horribly expensive to live in forever. There's a small amount of land, and it's packed with people.
It was horribly expensive during the Gold Rush. It was horribly expensive at the turn of the century, when it became the financial capital of the west. It was horribly expensive in the 20's, during prohibition. during the aerospace boom in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's it was horribly expensive. Then we had the computer revolution, and it became even more horribly expensive.
Since the 60's San Francisco has been a haven for far left liberalism. Protests against "the man" - now identified as anyone who has money - have been going on there since the sixties.
In San Francisco, "fairness" has been taken so far that homeless people are allowed to pee and poop on the streets. Anti growth factions have so much power that much of the city suffers horrible gridlock, due to a lack of proper infrastructure. Despite the wealth, the cities finances are not in very good shape, due to enormous greed and corruption. Public sector pensions and years of public sector union corruption have provided city officials with lavish lifestyles, with the monies they stole from the more deserving - same story as in Detroit, actually.
San Francisco and protesting go hand in hand. It's a very popular activity. Protesting is something one does on a pleasant Saturday or Sunday afternoon; there are free papers about the city that tell you where to go to protest this or that. It's a big party atmosphere at most of these events. Given the cities large population of "progressives" righteous indignation is very much in the vogue, as is pseudo intellectualism, and strong Marxists who prattle on about the disenfranchised masses and the evils of income equality.
It's an absolutely beautiful area, no doubt about it, despite the pee and poop in the streets. It is insanely expensive to live there. If I could afford to live there, I definitely would.
My point? Your comment is completely devoid of any context. It's a knee jerk righteous indignation based on a pessimistic, angry view of the world...
Fact: We spend more money on infrastructure TODAY than we were during the Eisenhower administration, when we were building the Interstate Highway System - and yes, this is adjusted for Inflation.
Fact: The Democratic Party is losing it's main sources of funding - Unions - and big surprise cooked up this whole Infrastructure story in order to ensure that more tax dollars go to the Teamsters, who return the bribes, er, favors, by donating large sums to the party, plus pushing their members to vote Democrat.
Fact: Whenever one or the other parties calls for spending money on something, claiming we must spend this money or we are all doomed, grandma's gonna starve, you're gonna die, whatever you can assume they are LYING and it's all about GREED, not our well being.
Fact: WTF does this have to do with Space Exploration, or the moon? Are the paid trolls so pervasive now that we can't talk about ANYTHING without all of the loons coming out of the closet?
Fact: A poll released this week from a reputable polling source indicated that some 70% of the people polled believed that the biggest threat to the survival of America was big government. It's the death of liberalism, get over it, big government is not the answer to your problems, can we please talk about coding, technology, space exploration, and something INTERESTING???
Yes, and the other key point is that if you break that souvenir, the image is contained in every single piece. Once you get your head wrapped around that, the holographic theory of the Universe starts to make a little more sense.
Sorry to hear you can't find a job. It's a crazy market out there. It's almost impossible to find good talent, because they think the job market is terrible and aren't looking. When you advertise a job you are deluged with resumes from people who have none of the necessary skills. This makes the hiring manager's job really difficult. Sending in resumes, applying online - it's a waste of time. Do what good sales people do - find a way to the decision maker directly.
"If all you're looking at is the cost per head that can produce n lines per day, without any regard for the quality of that work, the youngsters look like a real bargain."
A prescription for going out of business quickly is what this is...
Where have you been? The demand for developers in places like Eastern Europe is intense, and the rates have gone up as a result. The ratio these days is closer to 2 to 1 - Two remote workers = 1 American.
Sure, you can get completely unqualified people who took a crash course in programming for $12/$14 an hour... But a qualified developer with 5 years experience, a college degree, and English skills is much more expensive.
In many countries there is much less turnover than there is here, and a better work ethic as well. You may not like Globalization, but you're not going to stop it. Learn to manage offshore teams and you'll never want for a development job.
At this point, the notion that anything Obama said to Chris Matthews was not a fabricated play to his base... is naive beyond belief. Obama is all politician, all the time, and would say ANYTHING to ANYONE in order to shore up his base, put money in his or his party's pocket, etc. He couldn't even tell the truth about his uncle for crissakes....
Slashdot Mirror
80 mile range? Are you sure about that? Nissan claims far less than this....
Agreed, but the big money is in big infrastructure and 10,000 and up unit purchases, and Apple has never played well in that market.
Microsoft is very, very good at selling to the Enterprise AND the Government - and has sucked at selling to the end consumer for as long as I can remember. Which is longer than PC's have existed, having started on PDP 11's in the 1970's.
For the record I use Apple Products, and Microsoft Products, and Linux. They all have their pluses and minuses. The only area where the posters are crazy is the love of Google Play, which is a joke, anybody can put any app they want there, it's a huge collection of malware waiting to be opened. When I get something from the Apple App Store, I know somebody at least looked at the thing, and if it doesn't work, I get an immediate refund.
Whether you like it or not. most of the public Internet is about marketing. Love these posters comparing marketing to used car salesmen and lawyers. How, I wonder, did they decide to drive X brand of car, or drink Z brand of soda pop, or choose one computer over another... They consumed marketing. To those who believe that all business is inherently evil, please don't reply.
The most coveted demographic is not teenagers - it's people in their early twenties. At that point in their lives, they are making brand decisions that will remain unchanged for most of their lives. Yes, there are exceptions, but for the most part once people develop brand affinity in their early twenties they don't switch horses.
Given the proliferation of aggressive endless marketing techniques when they were growing up, most of these folks are completely immune to traditional advertising. They Tivo/DVR. They listen to downloaded/streaming music on their mobile devices, not FM radio. When they surf the web, 60% of them are mobile, and they ignore the ads at the bottom of the screen, hardly noticing them. So if you're selling ANYTHING how do you reach these people? Any way you can, that's how.
To those of us that make a living building this stuff, Twitter offers nothing, Tumblr will keep a slicer busy for a week but that's it, Instagram and pInterest are simple API's, similar to Twitter just a little more buggy and unstable... Whereas Facebook is a fairly decent platform to build apps on (after years of instability and an utter lack of Q/A) - and it offers remarkable demographics on the participants compared to everyone else.
So once again we read the story about the death of Facebook, and laugh. Because the clients who write the checks keep spending money there. And the contests, given a halfway decent acquisition strategy, return large numbers of engaged brand fans who stay engaged after the contest is over. Conversions (that's sales to you non Digital Interactive Folks) can be measured from Facebook outbound click traffic and married with the customer's key demographics. That's golden, nobody else has that.
As one who makes his living in digital interactive software development... you might stop to think that digital marketing has created a huge number of programming jobs over the last ten years. Facebook has been a major boon to millions of developers, and continues to do so.
What you've also failed to take into account is that there are more hot chicks in the marketing department... than anywhere else in the company.
You need to ignore the MSRP, nobody pays that, and factor in the incentives, typically around $7K on an F-150. My XLT 5L V8 4X4 club cab longbed with aftermarket heated leather seats and a top shelf cap came in just under $30K. And yes, I do use it to haul.. a lot.
GM is barely profitable. Ford on other hand, is very successful and profitable. Why? GM has to discount the vehicles to the point they barely make a profit just to stay afloat, and they are losing money on the Volt to a level that's unsustainable. Units sold is not the measure why which a company is measured.
So we will have a vehicle that costs more to build, and more to repair (hurting the middle class and poor folks the most as usual), may or may not be more crash worthy, and will usher in a new wave of corrosion problems. All to satisfy an arbitrary mandate that satisfies a well meaning but completely idiotic government who wants to dictate what we the people should be driving, one size fits all, and who cares what the consequences are. Of course the folks who pass these stupid mandates drive around in huge SUV's and limousines.
Glad I bought an F-150 V8 last year, hope it lasts a long time....
Like Bush's Medicare D program system screwups? (Which Republicans conveniently forgot about.)
My example was referring to private industry .vs. government. You've proven my point. Under either "party" the administration and execution of large social programs is terribly inefficient and wasteful. I also notice that you are trying to brand me an evil heartless rethugnican because I disagree with your views. Did I say what my affiliation was? Will you call me a racist next? So predictable. Can't prove you point? Start changing the subject, and then hurl insults.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with the insurance we had. Nothing. No gaps. All the employees were very happy with it. Everyone had input during the plan selection process, and employees had lots of options to choose from. What we have now is "thou shalt take the plan Uncle Sam has chosen for you" like it or not.
Because naked capitalism failed to adequately cover people, going for only the profitable low-hanging fruit. And polls have consistently shown that only roughly 35% to 40% of people were happy with the existing system.
Please cite this poll. Polls "consistently show" very little.
Because naked capitalism failed to adequately cover people,
At the moment, more people are uninsured as a result of ObamaCare than before. If the Administration would be honest about the actual numbers, we'd know how many. The lack of honesty about the numbers is proof that they are very bad.
.vs. actual real life experience. Have you sat in a room and informed employees that their insurance cost is going up 40% and they are getting less coverage? I doubt it. That's what's happening in the real world with this program, in small businesses (also known as job creators) all over the country.
Have you shopped for group insurance coverage? That's the most likely explanation for your ideological argument
As I have explained in other posts, I would pay more to cover the less fortunate - I am a compassionate person. What's happening with this program is I am paying more for less coverage, and more people are uninsured. EPIC FAIL from start to finish, and the Democrats own this thing, due to their stubborn and childish inability to work together with people and get things done. "My way or the highway" is not how one accomplishes anything in life except failure.
Slashdot Business Plan for every week where nothing important actually happens (e.g. Most of the time)
:-)
On Monday, post Apple Sucks! Microsoft Rocks! Then on Tuesday post Apple Rocks, Microsoft Sucks!
On Wednesday, post Obama Rocks, Republicans Suck. Then on Thursday, post Republicans Rock, Obama Sucks.
On Friday, post something about how the world is going to end for some reason (Man, Climate, Asteroids, Aliens)
There are, after all, two ad units on each page. It would be easier to simply cut and paste the responses from last week, as they generally read the same on stories like this anyway
What an interesting fantasy. When I started my business, the government did not help out at all. In fact, they created an incredible mountain of obstacles, that increased the start up cost at every turn. The business is successful, and I am punished for that, despite working 70 hour weeks for two years to build it up.
The reward for all my efforts to create job? Being declared an evil rich person once I make a penny over $250K a year. I haven't gotten there quite yet, but I will, and I will be punished more.
Nice dodge. The patriot act was rammed down the throats of Americans,
So the Democratic controlled house and Senate that voted to continue this law... did what, exactly? They could have overturned the Patriot act without a single Republican vote (This is, after all, how the ACA was passed).
Why is it that so many ideologues refuse to acknowledge reality, and just keep repeating the same narrative, over and over and over?
But most companies in the field have poor track records also. It's a field that's hard to get right.
In what field would that be? Sucking at the government teat? An insurance companies web site - funny thing - does exactly what Healthcare.gov does. Had any of the major insurers committed the architectural, design, programming, security, and implementation crimes this project did, there would be hell to pay, Congress would be screaming for an investigation, and we would be hearing for months how those evil, greedy, horrible, nasty insurance companies were only interested in greed, and didn't care about our welfare.
However, since it's the government, I predict the whole system will get a massive taxpayer "bailout" no doubt to "save jobs".
And I bet your new coverage covers more categories, even though it's more money.
You would lose that bet. My post menopausal wife has birth control coverage. What kind of idiot government bureaucrat doesn't know what menopause is? That's the only difference we can find after an exhaustive examination of the policy. Bear in mind this is a small group policy, not individual catastrophic coverage, and that all of the employees of the company are facing a forty percent premium increase. These folks have families, small children, and not a lot of extra cash lying around because times are tight, prices for basic necessities are higher, especially energy, thanks to the war on energy producers. They are all, without exception, asking the same questions:
Why is Obama waging war on the Middle Class? Why is our government doing this to us?
So I'd be very careful running around defending this crap, you might get punched in the nose.
Oh, sorry! I failed to catch the printer part.
Correct, and how many of the REAL developers on Slashdot aspire to work on old outdated technology?
Imagine you're interviewing for a tech job, and they are offering COBOL-74 for the same salary as Objective C? Which job are you going to take?
You can buy a whole new Computer WITH Windows 7 installed for $399.
Windows 7, $300? Not even the Ultimate version costs that much...
Not only that, it was awarded to a company with a proven track record of miserable failure. On no less than TWO large "registration system" projects. But as you say they were masters of greasing skids, paying bribes, and probably bought the finest meals and best looking hookers in town.
This is why the entire Utopian "Progressive" idea of high minded super intelligent people making informed decisions for the masses is flawed from the start. There are no such people. People are greedy, and act in their own self interest FIRST, the interests of power for their "group" second, and the needs of the people last (if it all).
Personally, I am faced with a FORTY PERCENT increase in premiums, HIGHER DEDUCTIBLES, HIGHER CO-PAYS - and for what? The same exact pool of Doctors I had before. I'd pay that forty percent if the ranks of the uninsured were going to decline - I am a compassionate person - but in fact, they have gone up - by some two to three million already, with more coming next year.
San Francisco has been horribly expensive to live in forever. There's a small amount of land, and it's packed with people.
It was horribly expensive during the Gold Rush. It was horribly expensive at the turn of the century, when it became the financial capital of the west. It was horribly expensive in the 20's, during prohibition. during the aerospace boom in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's it was horribly expensive. Then we had the computer revolution, and it became even more horribly expensive.
Since the 60's San Francisco has been a haven for far left liberalism. Protests against "the man" - now identified as anyone who has money - have been going on there since the sixties.
In San Francisco, "fairness" has been taken so far that homeless people are allowed to pee and poop on the streets. Anti growth factions have so much power that much of the city suffers horrible gridlock, due to a lack of proper infrastructure. Despite the wealth, the cities finances are not in very good shape, due to enormous greed and corruption. Public sector pensions and years of public sector union corruption have provided city officials with lavish lifestyles, with the monies they stole from the more deserving - same story as in Detroit, actually.
San Francisco and protesting go hand in hand. It's a very popular activity. Protesting is something one does on a pleasant Saturday or Sunday afternoon; there are free papers about the city that tell you where to go to protest this or that. It's a big party atmosphere at most of these events. Given the cities large population of "progressives" righteous indignation is very much in the vogue, as is pseudo intellectualism, and strong Marxists who prattle on about the disenfranchised masses and the evils of income equality.
It's an absolutely beautiful area, no doubt about it, despite the pee and poop in the streets. It is insanely expensive to live there. If I could afford to live there, I definitely would.
My point? Your comment is completely devoid of any context. It's a knee jerk righteous indignation based on a pessimistic, angry view of the world...
The correct comment would have been "The Obama Administration can't build a working website" not our government can't even build a working website.
Fact: We spend more money on infrastructure TODAY than we were during the Eisenhower administration, when we were building the Interstate Highway System - and yes, this is adjusted for Inflation.
Fact: The Democratic Party is losing it's main sources of funding - Unions - and big surprise cooked up this whole Infrastructure story in order to ensure that more tax dollars go to the Teamsters, who return the bribes, er, favors, by donating large sums to the party, plus pushing their members to vote Democrat.
Fact: Whenever one or the other parties calls for spending money on something, claiming we must spend this money or we are all doomed, grandma's gonna starve, you're gonna die, whatever you can assume they are LYING and it's all about GREED, not our well being.
Fact: WTF does this have to do with Space Exploration, or the moon? Are the paid trolls so pervasive now that we can't talk about ANYTHING without all of the loons coming out of the closet?
Fact: A poll released this week from a reputable polling source indicated that some 70% of the people polled believed that the biggest threat to the survival of America was big government. It's the death of liberalism, get over it, big government is not the answer to your problems, can we please talk about coding, technology, space exploration, and something INTERESTING???
Indeed.
FOX LIES!
Can you cite an example where they lied?
FOX LIES!
Have you ever watched the network?
FOX LIES!
Can you explain why they have more viewers than everyone else?
BECAUSE THEY USE SLICK CORPORATE PROPOGANDA! FOX LIES!
Wouldn't their competitors have access to the same tactics? Why doesn't it work for them?
FOX LIES!
How does that answer my question?
ONLY STUPID PEOPLE WATCH FOX!
So all the Fox viewers are idiots, but you are smarter than them because you watch MSNBC?
YOU'RE A RACIST! FOX LIES
I have actually had this same conversation with more than one brainwashed narrative spouting person...
Yes, and the other key point is that if you break that souvenir, the image is contained in every single piece. Once you get your head wrapped around that, the holographic theory of the Universe starts to make a little more sense.
Sorry to hear you can't find a job. It's a crazy market out there. It's almost impossible to find good talent, because they think the job market is terrible and aren't looking. When you advertise a job you are deluged with resumes from people who have none of the necessary skills. This makes the hiring manager's job really difficult. Sending in resumes, applying online - it's a waste of time. Do what good sales people do - find a way to the decision maker directly.
"If all you're looking at is the cost per head that can produce n lines per day, without any regard for the quality of that work, the youngsters look like a real bargain."
A prescription for going out of business quickly is what this is...
Where have you been? The demand for developers in places like Eastern Europe is intense, and the rates have gone up as a result. The ratio these days is closer to 2 to 1 - Two remote workers = 1 American.
Sure, you can get completely unqualified people who took a crash course in programming for $12/$14 an hour... But a qualified developer with 5 years experience, a college degree, and English skills is much more expensive.
In many countries there is much less turnover than there is here, and a better work ethic as well. You may not like Globalization, but you're not going to stop it. Learn to manage offshore teams and you'll never want for a development job.
Microsoft's "Milk Cow" isn't you, or me. It's corporate America and the U.S. Military. Individual consumers are a dropper in the ocean.
At this point, the notion that anything Obama said to Chris Matthews was not a fabricated play to his base... is naive beyond belief. Obama is all politician, all the time, and would say ANYTHING to ANYONE in order to shore up his base, put money in his or his party's pocket, etc. He couldn't even tell the truth about his uncle for crissakes....