Max Goff's Blog: August 2004 Archive

Posted by dmax69 on August 24, 2004 at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Is the Idea of implanting a passive RFID tag inside your body something that raises your Orwellian fears? Do you get Biblical "End-of-Days" shivers? Or is it a good thing, a next logical step, an inevitable development in the teleological vector of technological triumph?

Michael Kanellos' compelling article on C/Net yesterday must give us pause; how likely is it that a passive RFID arm tag will be a required implant in our increasingly security-conscious world? Would you submit? What if "implant or jail" was your only choice? Could such a system ever be technically viable let alone mandated?

RFID is the future, right? Walmart and the U.S. DoD can't be wrong ...

We can cite a litany of advantages to such systems, many of which are in use today: tracking small animals, keeping inventory of feed stock, monitoring those who cannot or will not conform to accepted social norms among others. So if it's good enough for your pet, your hamburger, your recently-released homicidal cousin or your aunt with Alzheimer's, then why not you?

The Incredible Shrinking Workforce

Posted by dmax69 on August 09, 2004 at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Eric Chabrow recently contributed an article to Information Week in which he analyzed data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics specific to IT professionals. Some 160,000 fewer Americans identify themselves as IT professionals as was the case in 2001. At the same time, the total U.S. employment in IT fell from 3.5 million to 3.2 million -- shrinking some 7%.

Some categories of IT professionals naturally shrunk while others grew. The number of computer software engineers, for example, grew by 8% during the period in question, while the number of programmers fell 17%. There are 60% more IT managers today than in 2001 (which includes "staff" management functions as well, or those who function with some management responsibilities but no direct reports or line management authority). Computer support specialists fell by 8%.

So what does all this mean?

A number of things may or may not be affecting the overall health of IT professions. A few explanations that come to mind might include:

The data itself is flawed
Many dot-com enriched IT pros have retired
The economy in general has not done well since 2001
Companies are outsouring IT jobs to non-U.S. locales
Increasing productivity outpaces IT demand
It's all the fault of Bill Gates and George W.
Development tools are getting better
Off-the-shelf software is getting better
The IT industry is fully mature
A reality TV gig is a better job prospect

While it is likely that a combination of things have given rise to a changing fitscape with respect to IT jobs, it is interesting to note that a shift has occurred, something which has not heretofore affected IT professions so dramatically; not since the invention of the integrated circuit have we seen such a decline. So what do you think?

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