NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/rec/autos/27147

Text File | 1992-11-18 | 2.5 KB | 52 lines

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From: [e-mail] (Tom Mathes)
Subject: Software Programmers = Auto Workers?
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Organization: Motorola Inc, Austin, Texas
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Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 17:59:46 GMT
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I hope I got the attention of several of you out there in NetLand. There
is an interesting article on pg. 91 of the Nov. 16, 1992 issue of
"Electronic Engineering Times". It is titled "S/W EEs 'face massive
unemployment'".

The article discusses a new book called "The Decline and Fall if the
American Programmer", by Edward Yourdan (Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ).  Mr. Yourdon groups data processors, software people and
systems analysts in this group, and he claims that the American software
industry will go the way of the US auto industry if present trends
continue.  He sites the lousy quality control of the software coming out
of American software houses, and the excessive development costs that
are assoicated with it.  He likens the attitude of American software
engineers to that of auto workers in the 1970s, that is, egocentric,
looking down upon their non-US competition, and unconcerned about the
quality of their product or productivity.

He sites examples of Sun Microsystems hiring Russian software experts in
its latest compiler project as an example, along with the movement of
software jobs to sophisticated and cheap "software factories" in the Far
East and South America.  Already, General Electric and Texas Instruments
are tapping overseas talent, due to lower costs, according to the
aritcle.

As a consumer of these software products, I can attest to the often
lousy quality of new software we buy from several vendors.  It is often
riddled with bugs.  Several of my fellow co-workers agree with me that
if we designed memory chips with even 1/100th as many bugs as in the
software we buy, our division would have been shut down long ago.

I thought this article might jolt some of the folks out there that bash
American cars often.  Often, I note that those folks are in the software
business. Guys, look at yourselves.  The same thing may happen to you.

(I bet the flames start now :-( )

Tom Mathes                                e-mail : [e-mail]
Motorola Inc. / MOS Memory Products Div.  phone  : [phone]
Austin, Texas