I am sure there is some reason for this, but I have yet to be told what it is.
Ever notice how often you'll find a gas station right across the street from another gas station? Even if they both have the same price? It's because there's enough traffic to justify their existence. You are describing the same trend when it comes to America's increasingly aged population.
The older you get the more pills you pop, and those pills keep costing more and more (and generating more and more profit no doubt), and when you're 75 with a cane, a stone's throw is from your bladder to the bowl, making an intersection, let alone a city block seem like a great distance.
I think what it really comes down to is that Americans are just getting fucked by greedy companies, as seems to always be the case.
Yeah, I never said that in my post, but that is my impression as well.
The rest of my facts were written mainly because they were technically true, and not that they were valid in this argument. What can I say, it made for lots of interesting replies;-)
Uhm, that may be a great idea in theory, but at leaset in Canada major cities are much more separated than those in the US, and yet DSL Cable are both close to 50% cheaper. We also only have 1/10th the population, so our population density is waaay lower than the US. Oh, and did I mention that the Canadian dollar has less than 4/5 the purchasing power of the US dollar? Finally, for those who might argue otherwise, broadband isn't state subsidised in Canada.
With the above taken into consideration, NOW try to explain why broadband is so damn expensive in the US?
I should have been more accurate and meant to say trade tarrifs (e.g. those imposed on foreign steel by the US) or employee handouts (e.g. those given to US farmers) and not job protectionism as a whole.
But in regards to your argument, you are wrong. Visas for working in India exist, and the beaurocratic process is not much different that working in England, Canada, or the US. You are confusing sovereignty with protectionism.
Time and time again state imposed job protectionism has been shown to actually hurt a country's economy as a whole more than the benefits gained by a few jobs saved. Invariably the protectionism is dropped.
/me tips his hat to the steel workers in Michigan.
Job protectionism is simply a political lever used to gain short term political support
/me tips his hat to George Bush, visiting Michigan just days before he removed the steel tariffs.
Believe it or not, but NorthFace actually had a notebook backpack out for a while known as the 'Network'. They don't make it anymore but you might find it in some stores, however they do make a notebook sleeve that allows you to carry your notebook in just about any backpack.
I highly recommend a backpack over a hand bag, because you wont get tired as easily carrying it, and because it doesn't say "He look at me, I've got a $3000 computer waiting to be stolen" the way a Targus bag does. I've tried 3 different notebook bags (and the best targus handbag out there) and the Northface network really did it for me, even if the side padding is a bit weak.
Well for one, its hackable in a language that is becoming the defacto standard for must introductory comp sci courses, and it has WiFi built in. That and the fact that I've been looking for a funky new alarm clock.
I'm with you. I used to buy two CDs a week, but when napster came out I was one of the first to sign on, and for a while had one of the most respectable jazz mp3 collections available, simply because I backed up all my music to MP3. I shared like crazy because I OWNED those CDs and felt no guilt in making them available online. Of course eventually those CDs gathered dust, so I sold them at the local shop.
At this point I haven't bought an album in nearly five years (yup!). To tell you the truth, I don't even care if its illegal...if they told me water would cost $40/month, and I had a glacier running through my back yard, what do you think I'd do? People can go their whole lives just buying used books or swapping them with their friends or borrowing them from libraries, why the hell wouldn't music be the same thing? At this point I download in spurts from time to time, and if things really got bad, I'd just go back to IRC, somehow it always seems to be flying under the radar.
As a final thought, and the last time I ever comment on this subject, even if the RIIA (or its Canadian equivalent) succeeded in clamping down, I really wouldn't care, I've got such a backlog of music (heck, I have >75 albums just in my 'recently downloaded' directory) that I'd be hard pressed to listen to it all anyways. I'm sure I'm not the only one who can play non stop music for the better portion of a year without repeating tracks.
Enjoy your music, and don't just share it with friends, listen to it with friends as well.
You are correct. My appologies. However, I don't doubt that for a certain percentage of the population (a vocal one I might add), its racism disgused as nationalism.
As for the bloated lifestyle, I would like to ask you the following: how much do you spend a year on cable, satelite, cellphone, laundry services, fuel, restaurants, computer games, music, clothes, electronics. That list isn't all encompassing, its just to give you an idea.
Next, tell me how much on average how much do you spend on a new shirt? On a pair of shoes? On a tie? On sunglasses? How much did you spend on your SUV (yes, I'm assuming here, but don't forget in my original post I said Americans (in general)).
Do you see where I'm getting at? Now contrast this to a country like Russian, which person for person could more or less get any given US job done just as well. How much do they own? How much do they spend for one shirt (hint, as a rule of thumb, they ain't buying polo and hilfigger)? Ok, then turn it up a notch and think India, think China!
That is what I was talking about when I refered to bloat.
Fact is, this shit has already happened (think Canada!) and its only a matter of time till it happens on a grander scale (and if you're saying "it happened to Canada and we're fine, so what?" don't forget that Canada only has 30,000,000 people, and its own economic sectors to keep them busy, all the other countries I've listed have significantly more people, and not necessarily other economic sectors to fall back on, which makes them more eager to take yours).
I'm starting to ramble a bit but what I'm still saying is unless Americans cut back you won't be able to stop this from happening. If you still don't understand what I mean by now, then unfortunately you are one of the masses who doesn't realise not just how good they've got it, but how excessive they've got it as well.
A downturn in the economy (think black monday 1929 + drought) would seriously change your response to the questions I asked above. What if that downturn was spawned by an exoduse of jobs from the US, and the crash of an overinflated U.S. dollar? And since the US has a massive trade deficite, if its dollar lost a significant amount of its value, wouldn't that affect its purchasing power? Do you think you'd still own/enjoy the things you do right now?
Oh, and one final note. Although I don't expect the above to happen tomorrow, has it occured to you that the reason you don't hear about this sort of stuff in the media, is because they have a vested interest in not alarming/letting you know? That's right, just keep giving them your money so that when the time does come, they have a pillow to fall on. What will you fall on?
Although my arguments may not be entirely right or convincing, I hope they gave you though, and I hope you at least now see where I'm coming from.
You got it right on the nose! "Buy American" crap is just racist protectionism. When a job goes to India, it still goes to a human being, and one who currently doesn't get to live the bloated American lifestyle. If Americans (in general) didn't have the need to lead such bloated lifestyles, they could get by on a lower salary, which would allow the company to keep its employees in its own country.
Jobs going overseas allows other people a chance to own houses, computers, cars and televisions, but more importantly allows more tax money to go back into their own economy, which is then reinvested so that water can be treated and delivered to where it is needed, infrastructure put in place for better markets, better medical aid, better roads. "Buy American" is a great ideal, but it's far far from the trade deficite truth Americans live in. unless Americans are willing to do the same work for a lot less, it's not going to change, and that won't happen until Americans curb their appetites for just about everything. Mark my words, unless there is some incredible breakthrough in technology, the excess we currently live in wont last much longer, or will become available to fewer and fewer people, as the dichotomy of classes increase.
As a side note to my second paragraph, I wonder if its accidental that the US arms race, as well as its pressure on other countries to increase their military might, is not just to make sure that less money goes into infrastructure that would make those countries a better place. But thats a whole other ball of wax.
Bah, Winamp never needed improving on after Winamp 2, no need for XMMS unless some features lacking in Winamp 2 show up in it. Personally I've switched to iTunes and am rather satisfied with it, although it crashes for everyone else.
If company A wants to pay some guy in Finland to implement a feature so they can use that software more effectively in their enterprise, is that outsourcing that we can complain about?
That example is valid for what might be expected for the open source community where the Fin's services are free of charge, but you're mixing apples and oranges when you compare it with outsourcing, since a Fin would cost a lot more than someone from India, and if a company were to do pay for his services, it would do so for his skills, and not as a cost saving measure.
As for your concepts of having agents for developers, it won't happen just yet since its mostly a buyers market, and developers (not necessarily good ones) are easy to find, especially over seas (hence the whole outsourcing trend, duh). But in reality there are already agents for some developers. The more skilled ones sometimes have head hunters/recruiting agencies that represent them, doing the leg work and matching jobs/skills/salaries.
I wish people would stop blaming politicians, and point the finger squarely at the American public. People seem to gravitate mindlessly to tax-cutting messages, without considering the impact. Nobody wants to pay taxes, but they all want good schools, safe and well-maintained streets, etc. If the public got behind the idea of a space port or moon landing, the politicians would follow. It does indeed happen, even in these cynical times.
I wish people would stop blaming the American public and point the finger squarely at George Bush. This space cadet seems to gravitate mindlessly to invading nations, without considering the impact. Nobody wants Sadam Hussein as a leader, but they want to resolve it in a manner that is safe, with well-maintaned streets, etc. If George Bush got behind the idea of removing Saddam in a peaceful manner, the people would have followed. It could have indeed happened, even in these cynical times.
Hehe, that was funny. Anyone else wanna give it a try?
Hehe, I remember doing the same thing on a 300bps vicmodem. Except you got maybe 4 colors at a 320x200 resolution. I cut my teeth on that stuff. I also remember saving all my babysitting money so I could upgrade to 1200bps, and I also remember the amazement when I was able to dial up from my C64 to my friend's 8088 machine. Good times, good times.
Ah, must be on a newer version. I bonned up the $20 when pro came out. But again, that's their prerogative to do so. Since I first posted I have taken the time to try GAIM on one of my Windows boxes (I've had it on my Mandrake box for a while, but not the latest version). I must say I was rather dissapointed with the klunkyness of the interface, the lack of rss feeds and winamp controls, and couldn't see any benefits (besides it being open source) to using it over Trillian. For $20 Trillian is a pretty good deal, and I can't help but wonder if Microsoft charged $2/month to remove the ads in MSN how successful they would be. I suppose that would never happen because the only folks left to advertise to would be those too cheap to spend $2/month. I'm rambling now.
Slashdot Mirror
I am sure there is some reason for this, but I have yet to be told what it is.
Ever notice how often you'll find a gas station right across the street from another gas station? Even if they both have the same price? It's because there's enough traffic to justify their existence. You are describing the same trend when it comes to America's increasingly aged population.
The older you get the more pills you pop, and those pills keep costing more and more (and generating more and more profit no doubt), and when you're 75 with a cane, a stone's throw is from your bladder to the bowl, making an intersection, let alone a city block seem like a great distance.
I think what it really comes down to is that Americans are just getting fucked by greedy companies, as seems to always be the case.
Yeah, I never said that in my post, but that is my impression as well.
The rest of my facts were written mainly because they were technically true, and not that they were valid in this argument. What can I say, it made for lots of interesting replies ;-)
With the above taken into consideration, NOW try to explain why broadband is so damn expensive in the US?
I should have been more accurate and meant to say trade tarrifs (e.g. those imposed on foreign steel by the US) or employee handouts (e.g. those given to US farmers) and not job protectionism as a whole.
But in regards to your argument, you are wrong. Visas for working in India exist, and the beaurocratic process is not much different that working in England, Canada, or the US. You are confusing sovereignty with protectionism.
Time and time again state imposed job protectionism has been shown to actually hurt a country's economy as a whole more than the benefits gained by a few jobs saved. Invariably the protectionism is dropped.
Job protectionism is simply a political lever used to gain short term political support
Isn't IBM already a major player?
Except sometimees I tell my gf that there's no need to msg me when I'm in the next room.
Thinkgeek Backpacks
I highly recommend a backpack over a hand bag, because you wont get tired as easily carrying it, and because it doesn't say "He look at me, I've got a $3000 computer waiting to be stolen" the way a Targus bag does. I've tried 3 different notebook bags (and the best targus handbag out there) and the Northface network really did it for me, even if the side padding is a bit weak.
MacSense mentions this feature right here. However, I think they are talking about Homepod variants they'd like to release in the future.
Well for one, its hackable in a language that is becoming the defacto standard for must introductory comp sci courses, and it has WiFi built in. That and the fact that I've been looking for a funky new alarm clock.
At this point I haven't bought an album in nearly five years (yup!). To tell you the truth, I don't even care if its illegal...if they told me water would cost $40/month, and I had a glacier running through my back yard, what do you think I'd do? People can go their whole lives just buying used books or swapping them with their friends or borrowing them from libraries, why the hell wouldn't music be the same thing? At this point I download in spurts from time to time, and if things really got bad, I'd just go back to IRC, somehow it always seems to be flying under the radar.
As a final thought, and the last time I ever comment on this subject, even if the RIIA (or its Canadian equivalent) succeeded in clamping down, I really wouldn't care, I've got such a backlog of music (heck, I have >75 albums just in my 'recently downloaded' directory) that I'd be hard pressed to listen to it all anyways. I'm sure I'm not the only one who can play non stop music for the better portion of a year without repeating tracks.
Enjoy your music, and don't just share it with friends, listen to it with friends as well.
Moe: "And to think I'll die without ever tasting a cantaloupe."
Krusty: "Honeydew, that's the money melon."
You are correct. My appologies. However, I don't doubt that for a certain percentage of the population (a vocal one I might add), its racism disgused as nationalism.
You could pay for all your luxuries many times over, with the cost of the car for just 1 year
True dat.
You might want to try again. Blame a screwed currency exchange rate for example.
I'd rather not. It is generaly agreed that the U.S. dollar is overvalued (of note, the pdf ends by saying that "overvalued" doesn't mean much when private market forces hold sway and the government doesn't intervene...but check out what G.W. Bush has been doing as of late.)
As for the bloated lifestyle, I would like to ask you the following: how much do you spend a year on cable, satelite, cellphone, laundry services, fuel, restaurants, computer games, music, clothes, electronics. That list isn't all encompassing, its just to give you an idea.
Next, tell me how much on average how much do you spend on a new shirt? On a pair of shoes? On a tie? On sunglasses? How much did you spend on your SUV (yes, I'm assuming here, but don't forget in my original post I said Americans (in general)).
Do you see where I'm getting at? Now contrast this to a country like Russian, which person for person could more or less get any given US job done just as well. How much do they own? How much do they spend for one shirt (hint, as a rule of thumb, they ain't buying polo and hilfigger)? Ok, then turn it up a notch and think India, think China!
That is what I was talking about when I refered to bloat.
Fact is, this shit has already happened (think Canada!) and its only a matter of time till it happens on a grander scale (and if you're saying "it happened to Canada and we're fine, so what?" don't forget that Canada only has 30,000,000 people, and its own economic sectors to keep them busy, all the other countries I've listed have significantly more people, and not necessarily other economic sectors to fall back on, which makes them more eager to take yours).
I'm starting to ramble a bit but what I'm still saying is unless Americans cut back you won't be able to stop this from happening. If you still don't understand what I mean by now, then unfortunately you are one of the masses who doesn't realise not just how good they've got it, but how excessive they've got it as well.
A downturn in the economy (think black monday 1929 + drought) would seriously change your response to the questions I asked above. What if that downturn was spawned by an exoduse of jobs from the US, and the crash of an overinflated U.S. dollar? And since the US has a massive trade deficite, if its dollar lost a significant amount of its value, wouldn't that affect its purchasing power? Do you think you'd still own/enjoy the things you do right now?
Oh, and one final note. Although I don't expect the above to happen tomorrow, has it occured to you that the reason you don't hear about this sort of stuff in the media, is because they have a vested interest in not alarming/letting you know? That's right, just keep giving them your money so that when the time does come, they have a pillow to fall on. What will you fall on?
Although my arguments may not be entirely right or convincing, I hope they gave you though, and I hope you at least now see where I'm coming from.
Jobs going overseas allows other people a chance to own houses, computers, cars and televisions, but more importantly allows more tax money to go back into their own economy, which is then reinvested so that water can be treated and delivered to where it is needed, infrastructure put in place for better markets, better medical aid, better roads. "Buy American" is a great ideal, but it's far far from the trade deficite truth Americans live in. unless Americans are willing to do the same work for a lot less, it's not going to change, and that won't happen until Americans curb their appetites for just about everything. Mark my words, unless there is some incredible breakthrough in technology, the excess we currently live in wont last much longer, or will become available to fewer and fewer people, as the dichotomy of classes increase.
As a side note to my second paragraph, I wonder if its accidental that the US arms race, as well as its pressure on other countries to increase their military might, is not just to make sure that less money goes into infrastructure that would make those countries a better place. But thats a whole other ball of wax.
Bah, Winamp never needed improving on after Winamp 2, no need for XMMS unless some features lacking in Winamp 2 show up in it. Personally I've switched to iTunes and am rather satisfied with it, although it crashes for everyone else.
If company A wants to pay some guy in Finland to implement a feature so they can use that software more effectively in their enterprise, is that outsourcing that we can complain about?
That example is valid for what might be expected for the open source community where the Fin's services are free of charge, but you're mixing apples and oranges when you compare it with outsourcing, since a Fin would cost a lot more than someone from India, and if a company were to do pay for his services, it would do so for his skills, and not as a cost saving measure.
As for your concepts of having agents for developers, it won't happen just yet since its mostly a buyers market, and developers (not necessarily good ones) are easy to find, especially over seas (hence the whole outsourcing trend, duh). But in reality there are already agents for some developers. The more skilled ones sometimes have head hunters/recruiting agencies that represent them, doing the leg work and matching jobs/skills/salaries.
Amen, tell it like it is brotha!
Why is the number six afraid of the number seven? Because seven eight nine.
(say it out loud if you don't get it). yeah, hardly a math joke, but is just as funny for 5 year olds as 50 year olds.
Geez, everything must be an editorial to you. Ever heard of humour?
I wish people would stop blaming politicians, and point the finger squarely at the American public. People seem to gravitate mindlessly to tax-cutting messages, without considering the impact. Nobody wants to pay taxes, but they all want good schools, safe and well-maintained streets, etc. If the public got behind the idea of a space port or moon landing, the politicians would follow. It does indeed happen, even in these cynical times.
I wish people would stop blaming the American public and point the finger squarely at George Bush. This space cadet seems to gravitate mindlessly to invading nations, without considering the impact. Nobody wants Sadam Hussein as a leader, but they want to resolve it in a manner that is safe, with well-maintaned streets, etc. If George Bush got behind the idea of removing Saddam in a peaceful manner, the people would have followed. It could have indeed happened, even in these cynical times.
Hehe, that was funny. Anyone else wanna give it a try?
Hehe, I remember doing the same thing on a 300bps vicmodem. Except you got maybe 4 colors at a 320x200 resolution. I cut my teeth on that stuff. I also remember saving all my babysitting money so I could upgrade to 1200bps, and I also remember the amazement when I was able to dial up from my C64 to my friend's 8088 machine. Good times, good times.
Ah, must be on a newer version. I bonned up the $20 when pro came out. But again, that's their prerogative to do so. Since I first posted I have taken the time to try GAIM on one of my Windows boxes (I've had it on my Mandrake box for a while, but not the latest version). I must say I was rather dissapointed with the klunkyness of the interface, the lack of rss feeds and winamp controls, and couldn't see any benefits (besides it being open source) to using it over Trillian. For $20 Trillian is a pretty good deal, and I can't help but wonder if Microsoft charged $2/month to remove the ads in MSN how successful they would be. I suppose that would never happen because the only folks left to advertise to would be those too cheap to spend $2/month. I'm rambling now.