Re: [tlug] Looking for Summer Internship in Japan

[Noda Yoshikazu <noda.yoshikazu@example.com>]

> Anyway, back to IT.  The IT field isn't as pretty as it use to be...I
> can't remember when it *was* pretty, actually.  :-)

Too bad you didn't experience the time when IT (for me programmers)
was pretty.

As I have been in this industry for 3 decades now, I can remember when it
was pretty - programmers were respected and the money was good.
I am not sure if this is true for everyone, but it was good for me for sure.
I told this at the meeting yesterday that I took this career path because
of a couple of hippies in at the company I was working then, and I wanted
to be cool like them. It's for real! My life wouldn't be the same if I hadn't
meet them.

I started with 8 bit cpu assembly, and after a few years, I got a lab programmer
job at one large electric company. It was nice as I could work on SunOS (later
became Solaris) on Sun Workstations which most programmers then could only
dream of. I enjoyed writing unix apps, mostly X-Window GUI.

Nowadays we have Linux runs on PC so anyone can have a ball.
That was the time of my life, and life was sooo good. Was it because there
were not enough programmers  30 years ago? Probably. I didn't see any Indian
nor Chinese nor Phillipino programmers, and there was no such thing
like offshore
outsourcing.

Sorry for the derailing.

-Yoshi



2015-03-14 1:30 GMT+09:00 Raymond Wan <rwan.kyoto@example.com>:
> On Fri, Mar 13, 2015 at 1:43 PM, Lyle H Saxon <llletters@example.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, Mar 13, 2015 at 12:39 PM, Raymond Wan <rwan.kyoto@example.com> wrote:
>>> PS:  Not just Japan, but everywhere is sending IT jobs to other
>>> countries.  Everything from manufacturing to programming has that
>>> potential.  Ironically, one "good" thing about Japan is still the
>>> language barrier.  Until other countries' IT staff read and write
>>> Japanese natively, as least some parts like documentation writing and
>>> GUI design can remain more or less within Japan...  All IMHO, of
>>> course...
>>
>> Again, I'm basing this on discussions I've had with my Japanese
>> national now-and-again drinking buddy who has been full-time
>> programming for a couple of decades, but they're at ground zero and
>> have been for the past two decades.  A couple of things they related
>> to me:
>
>
> Oh!  In no way do I doubt your discussions with your drinking buddy.
>
> My point is not that I doubt what you say, but that Japan probably has
> it better than other places.  Take for example where I am -- Hong
> Kong.  With both Mandarin and English as being official (or
> semi-official?) languages, it's very easy for IT jobs to be shifted to
> other countries that use either as an official language.
>
> Everywhere has it bad...you either live somewhere where IT jobs are
> being sent elsewhere, or you live somewhere where IT jobs are coming
> to you but there may not be standard working hours or minimum wage.
> The long hours with no overtime pay in Japan appears to be a stop-gap
> measure to play catch-up?
>
> Ironically, before I first went to Japan, everyone told me about the
> long working hours; though there are laws in place now, many employers
> try to dodge these rules.  Yet here, they don't even have standard
> working hours...they're still talking about it within the government.
> It feels strange to be in Japan and thinking the working hours were
> inhumane and then go somewhere else where it's even worse.  Looking
> forward to some European influence in this matter...  ;-)
>
> Anyway, back to IT.  The IT field isn't as pretty as it use to be...I
> can't remember when it *was* pretty, actually.  :-)
>
> Ray
>
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