They human factor: if you imagine it, will they build?

As I write these stories and look at what is created, specially on the web. I tend to wonder off and think about who creates this. Who had the ideas? who wrote the content? who designed the page and edited the images? who runs the servers and maintains the software? who, who, who... there are lots of hands moving the product, marketing, customers... along. I don't know most of the people who work at Microsoft, Adobe or Netscape (or for that matter the 'open source' developers all over the world working for the most part anonymously). But I do know plenty of technology workers, some are friends, even close ones. As technology keeps on evolving and growing, it seems like more people "stay" where they are and a few move and evolve with the times. But the problem with changing technology, specially at a fast pace, is the people who are slowly dropped off and stay behind. But these people did not lose their skills or even their traits and abilities (creativity, hard work ethic, loyalty, social abilities...). For the most part they just "didn't learn that new language" (perl, java, xhtml) or "didn't use that new application" (photoshop, gimp, frontpage). So these people AND their specific specialization area, fall behind and slowly die off.

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Listings for software QA jobs in the Boston MA area (Nov. '07)
So the "outsiders" of the field simply say: "train them" they simply need to learn new skills. They know how to program in 'C' so what should be so hard in learning 'Java'? After all, the people who designed Java "told everyone that the language was made to follow 'C' and even use the same concepts of 'C++'", who what's the problem? Well, do you remember the beginning of the Japanese car invasion in the US? When people were buying Toyotas, Hondas and Datsuns (the Nissan company was even afraid to use their own name in America!) instead of Chevys and Dodge? When politicians, economists, trade union leaders and management gurus were telling the US car companies: "just make the better, can't you just do that?"

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Oh, if they could 'just do that!' wouldn't they? Well the same old "I will tell you how to fix your problem" pontificators are doing the same thing with 'US' (the techies, geeks, propeller heads, pick your label). All of a while, we go through the most wrenching "business cycle". So back to the things I see... at least five of my closest friends including me, have been under or unemployed. Mostly coming from serious real companies (Lucent, EMC, Digital, Avid Tech, Cypress Semi, Altera) with real careers (programmers, chip designers, software QA engineers, marketing managers). So what's going on here? Can't we figure it out and get on with it? Convince the new technology managers that we have skills, knowledge and desire to build the next 'Netscape browser'? or 'wireless router front end'? or appeal to corporate buyers to look at the new 'application'? Well, the transition to "new" is not as easy as it might seem. But on the other hand, even "new" businesses and technologies lose a huge deal when they don't use available "old" talented workers. Actually, when you take it all into account, pretty much the consensus will be on using more experienced workers than "fresh new ones".

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Well, as we move into new technologies of self publishing, everything "really" online, and dominance of content over programming and application development, things are again changing for everyone. I seems like this is not going to change, but maybe we are more able to change things with the tools we are developing. Even a blog and a wiki is a better way to do things than previously. We had newsgroups for a long time, but the interface, operation and availability is much better with blogs. So, it seems like the 'old' guys who have used newsgroups can migrate to blogs... but maybe they don't want to? or just want to keep on going the old way... even if it means sitting around the basement for a while and playing on the self build machine instead of going off to work in a lab at DEC... or maybe not... anyway, hope this gets people thinking, seriously, about more steadiness, continuity and loyalty in our business. Maybe we can learn something from GM of the 1980's, and not have National Semiconductor ask for a loan guarantee from the next president, the way Lee Iaccoca did... or maybe not.