[CLUE-Talk] The Microsoft penalty that isn't - Tech News -CNET.com

[Kevin Cullis]

Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier wrote:
> 
> > I feel as though this is a sign of our time, in that our society is
> > progressing towards a state where people work solely in a
> > "productivity-niche", becoming less of the renaissance man, and relying on
> > the experts of particular fields for service.  For example, consider the
> > dentist who knows teeth but can't work on his car and thus employs someone
> > else to work on his car for him.  I can see the benefits of this kind of
> > symbiotic system, namely greater productivity as a whole, and I support it.
> 
> I can't say that I agree entirely with this. For one thing, people are
> increasingly pigeonholed. I'm currenly looking for a full-time job.

Yes to this!!  Everyone wants the expert because people are "paying for
it" rather than doing it for themselves. Remember Thomas Jefferson? 
When people hear what he did, they describe him as inventor, farmer,
statesman, architect, and recently a slave owner who had kids outside of
his marriage.  People want simple things when in reality things are more
complicated because of more detail that don't need to be even
remembered.

> I'm going to have a devil of a time finding a good job because I'm
> a generalist, not a specialist. Without sounding immodest, I think I'd
> be a great person to have at any small company - I can admin servers,
> write press releases or produce marketing materials, I've been a
> manager for several years, done product purchasing and negotiation
> and production in radio and television - just to name a few. But since I
> haven't chosen to overspecialize, I don't fit any headhunter profiles.
> If I look for a job as a journalist, most publications will assume I'm
> not really a journalist because my professional experience has largely
> been writing about computers. If I apply for an admin job, companies
> will look at my resume and say "oh, but you're a writer."

Amen to that and I'm the same way.

> 
> Not to mention that the ability to adapt and learn is no longer valued.
> Most companies want to hire someone who has done the same task over
> and over again, if you haven't done job X for ten years, they don't
> want to talk to you.

Agreed!!!

> 
> Obviously, not everyone can be a mechanic or dentist (self-dentistry
> would be damn scary anyway...) but we've gotten too far from the
> DIY attitude that made this country great in the first place.

Yep, did anyone read the Scientific Article about the DIY hobbyist
market has shrunk considerable in the last few years?  Ashame, looks
like we'll be going the way of the Taliban, but not if I can help it.

> 
> > But I feel that it will not work for us due to some other trends occurring
> > at the same time.  People are also losing their ability to think critically
> > and make their own solutions.  People are becoming unable to apply lessons
> > learned in the industry where they are a producer to an analogous industry
> > as a consumer.  Consequently, suave marketing campaigns have become more
> > effective than a quality product or service.
> 
> Exactly - the idea of learning something like Linux - which might
> take a while, but save major money in the long run, is eschewed in
> favor of a quick fix that is less robust and far more costly.

Would you call this sugar computing? ;-)

> 
> > It should be very important to us that people either learn about computers
> > or learn to act as responsible, thoughtful consumers.  The same goes with
> > the accounting, automobile, food, medical, and construction industries, in
> > as much as we rely on these industries for (basic) survival in this system.
> 
> I feel a little RMS-ish saying this, but...
> 
> Customers, please - not consumers. Part of being responsible and thoughtful
> is understanding that you have the power of your dollars. Consumer
> implies that you're little better than cattle lining up to the trough.
> Customers have the power to take their business elsewhere, consumers take
> what's given to them. Yes, it's a matter of semantics, but remember
> that language is responsible for the way that we think. If we think of
> ourselves as customers rather than consumers - and demand to be recognized
> as such - we'll have already won half the battle.

Zonker, good lines and thanks for the clarifications, I'm still learning
....

KC
-- 

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal" - Kevin Cullis
---
Kevin Cullis
kcullis at coloradoexcellence.org
303-893-CPEX (2739) Main
720-489-9283 Direct
Colorado Performance Excellence, Inc
http://www.coloradoexcellence.org