Bill Gates decides to keep R&D local

[gunkulator]

The article is kinda big so I won't post it.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001295306_microsoft29.html

I'm no fan of the guy, but at least he's doing something to keep jobs from relocating overseas. And he's hiring this year too.

[Asher]

Yeah, he said they'll always keep the vast majority of their development here.

"What other science is going to change the world anywhere near as much as computer science?" he asked.

Similarly: http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-5056117.html

In a question-and-answer session following his speech, Gates took issue with the notion that a decline in computer science enrollment might be related to the outsourcing of jobs overseas.

"Basically, no," he said, adding that there are plenty of job opportunities for computer science graduates, including at Microsoft. It makes sense for Microsoft to keep most of its development efforts centralized in the United States, he added.

"We will always have the vast majority of our (major) software development here," he said. "We're not about, 'Can we do the next version of Windows for 5 percent less?'"

Gates and Microsoft research head Rick Rashid did express concern that not enough women and minorities were going into computer science, with the number of women entering college computer science programs declining. "That's extremely unfortunate," Rashid said.

[JohnT]

Good.

' "What other science is going to change the world anywhere near as much as computer science?" he (Gates) asked. '

Genetics?

[Asher]

Like cloning and stuff?
It's very important and very interesting, but I doubt it'll change the world very much -- at least from the perspective of everyday people.

[:) Smiley]

Shows you how bad M$'s public image is, that they can't afford to go overseas.

[JohnT]

[Az]

We need those jobs!

[Asher]

Originally posted by Smiley
Shows you how bad M$'s public image is, that they can't afford to go overseas.

This is some kind of joke, right?

Azazel: This article isn't about outsourcing to countries like Israel, but countries like China and India.

[Az]

Oursource to us, outsource to us! I'd be a kickass tele-stuff person! ( I need a job).



Oh, and yes, genetics, and genetic engineering will outpace computers in it's application, even to everyday people.

[Asher]

How?

The people born today are too late for genetic engineering, all they can hope for is transplants from organ harvesting or something.

Besides, computers serve as the catalyst for innovations such as that.

[CivPatriot]

I'm glad to see that a few companies in the computing industry as still making an effort to keep jobs in the Western World(mainly US and Canada) instead of shipping them overseas(espescially customer support). Wish more companies would follow the lead of Microsoft and Apple in trying to keep their people.

[:) Smiley]

How is that a good thing though? Those people in India and China need those tech jobs more than American geeks do. You as the consumer also get cheaper computer software. This will free up American geek labor for making more video games instead of OS's.

[Asher]

Because the quality of the India and China jobs is noticably worse.
If you have revisions to make it's hard to find the original authors, and you can't exactly rely on excellent documentation from them.
Management tends to come from inside at MS, and if all of your employees are faceless people outsourced in India, it doesn't work so well.
With something as complicated as Windows, for example (40M lines of code), it'd be a disaster to get some cheap code monkeys in India to do it.

[gunkulator]

The true danger of outsourcing isn't code monkeys mindlessly cranking out reams of software. It's outsourcing your company's R&D. Most new ideas and start-ups are driven by the guys who do R&D. Outsource them and you may gain a quick financial gain, but in the long run you lose your tech edge.

From a humanistic perspective, outsourcing is nothing more than US companies avoiding US labor laws. Simply put, these same US companies would be dragged into court if they treated US workers the way they do their foreign labor. For all the abuse, real and imagined, that MS foists on its US employees, it ain't nothing compared to how shoddily they treat outsourced labor.

I've always thought that 100+ years from now, our descendents will look back on our society with the same disdain we use when we look back on slave owners. Slavery didn't really end. It was just moved overseas.

[DanS]

How is that a good thing though? Those people in India and China need those tech jobs more than American geeks do. You as the consumer also get cheaper computer software. This will free up American geek labor for making more video games instead of OS's.

It isn't a good thing, except if there's a solid business reason that offsets the savings. Economic nationalism is sooooo 1970s...

You as the consumer also get cheaper computer software.

Mad props to M$ for its gross margins. Mad props!