Is There a Shortage of U.S. Tech Workers?
,----[ Quote ]
| Speaking before a Senate committee earlier this month, Gates said
| that America is facing a critical shortage of tech workers. He
| recommended boosting the number of H-1B visas to allow more foreign
| tech workers into the U.S.
|
| [...]
|
| "I think that has created an environment where the population of advanced
| skill workers has shrunk a lot in the U.S., because we just haven't created
| a fair system," he says. "Where if you go to other countries, you'll find
| national policy around broadband deployment, which creates a much more even
| playing field for people of all income levels to learn by and work by."
|
| "We did it to ourselves," he says.
`----
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/career/article.php/3667376
This pretty much confirms that Microsoft (and the likes of it) have destroyed
a healthy IT environment, robbing innovation opportunities and decent
service along with it.
Related:
Microsoft Sending All XP and Vista Tech Support Calls To India?
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is sending ALL of its XP and Vista tech support calls to India
| starting March 29th, according to a call center insider
`----
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/microsoft/microsoft-sending-all-xp-and-vista-tech-support-calls-to-india-245048.php
"Dear Microsoft": An open letter to Microsoft regarding the outsourcing of
jobs.
,----[ Quote ]
| Don't get it twisted: I don't have a problem with you outsourcing
| jobs to people that will work for next-to-nothing. It's just
| getting a bit out of hand, don't you think? I mean, there's no
| point trying to fool me.
`----
http://www.lastnameball.com/RantsandTirades/Pages/DearMicrosoft.html
And there's the classic image:
http://airpost.org/microsoft.jpg
Bill Gates to address Senate panel
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is scheduled to descend on Capitol Hill
| next week to pepper a U.S. Senate committee with his suggestions for
| boosting American competitiveness.
`----
http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6163930.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
Which is better for technical support
,----[ Quote ]
| I have found in general that with open source support you often get
| more than what you pay for but with closed source support, by some of
| the biggest names in software, the support is often lacking in the
| value department. With open source asking for support has generally
| resulted in a solution within a week and I have never paid for it.
| However with closed source companies I have open tickets that have
| not been resolved in months. With open source I can communicate
| directly with the author(s) of the program and work closely with
| them to find a solution. Closed source on the other hand has just
| requested information, verified the bug and then informed us that
| the solution may be available in the next release of the program.
`----
http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/linux/locutus/archives/which-is-better-for-technical-support-13621
http://tinyurl.com/ygspn7
Microsoft's Genuine Advantage
,----[ Snippet ]
| A lot of managers are afraid to use Open Source Software, because it
| doesn't come with any support. Of course that isn't true. It is a classical
| piece of FUD. And then again, how much is support worth?
|
| [...]
|
| MS: Microsoft Support. Good morning, sir. Can I help you.
| IC: Windows displays some strange message on my screen.
| MS: What's the message, sir.
| IC: ReadStringFromInf: UpdSpGetLineText failed: 0xe0000102; Microsoft
| Windows is Not Present
| MS: May I have your product key, sir.
| IC: [gives completely valid product key]
| MS: Ok, sir. Can you please reboot your PC?
| IC: Will that solve the problem?
| MS: Please reboot your PC, sir.
| IC: Ok, ok, wait a minute.
| MS: Please call us again if you eXPerience any more problems. Have a
| nice day, sir. [click]
`----
http://thebeez.vnunetblogs.com/the_beez_speaks/2006/09/microsofts_genu.html
I work for MS but even I struggle to get a hot-fix
,----[ Quote ]
| The problem took 260 minutes to resolve from start to
| finish and an estimated 90 minutes of Ledgard's time,
| not including the time it took to write-up his problems...
| Still, the frustrations experienced by Ledgard give
| a salutary lesson that Microsoft's online product
| support is mediocre, at best, and will surely strike
| a chord with many long-suffering sys admins.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/24/ms_hot-fix_hell/
|
|
