Labor Day Ramblings

[Fairlight]

With neither thought nor caution, Christopher Yerry blurted:

> Lets not bash other languages and programmers. There are things we use
> filePro for here and things we do in .NET you couldn't dream about doing
> in file Pro. Conversely there are things file Pro is great for that .NET
> / java is not.

I'll be the last to defend Java, believe me.

> Each language has its purpose.

True, but some are outdated.  Others have introduced so many security
issues that you're better off NOT using them.  

> If we are a dime a dozen why do we make 150K - 200K a year ???

Because, much as some people are actually worh that (and more), the fact of
the matter is that our entire field charges too much, by and large.  I've
seen people charging $200/hr (I charge $75...$100 for emergencies and on
weekends unless previously arranged--I'm on the low end) that know less
than I do by a fair amount.  In some cases they're actually dangerous,
systems-wise.

Nothing in this field dictates that pay/rates/fees are commensurate with
skill and experience.  I've seen underpaid geniuses, and overpaid buffoons.
It averages out, but we're probably -all- charging too much.  It's much the
same in the medical field.  Actually, it's that way in a lot of fields, but
ours is particularly bad--to the point of notoriety.  Some people have come
to me with -real- horror stories about prior experiences.

Actually, I'd not bother charging if I didn't have to.  I like helping
people.  Unfortunately, my creditors don't seem to share the view that this
should be good enough.  :)

What my original comment referred to, however, wasn't even strictly
domestic.  There are so many "certified experts" in .net, VB, ASP, etc.,
both stateside and abroad (look at the HUGE surge in outsourcing to India
and Russia these days), that the market is dilluted both in terms of
quantity and quality.  MCSE probably doesn't actually mean anything--I
think half the people in India must have one, if you go by the posts in
various newsgroups with people pandering their services.  There are too
many for it to have any intrinsic value.  By contrast, with <10000
certifications -worlwide-, the highest level Cisco certification actually
means something, and is very difficult to obtain.

I think you misunderstood the thrust of my original statement.  It's more a
comment on the direction of the industry (and specific parts of it), than
it is a bash of any one language.  Granted, i wasn't very verbose in
explaining it, so that's understandable.  I'm having an off week.  I'm ill
enough that I'm not even gaming...that should tell people something.  About
15min of email a day is all I've been up to.

> VB is proprietary ??

It's an M$ language, so yes.  Show me another VB vendor or implementation,
and I'll happily retract my comment.

mark->
-- 
There is no "I" in TEAM.
This would be the primary reason I've chosen not to join one.