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» babble   » walking the talk   » labour and consumption   » Sweatship for Software Coders?

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Author Topic: Sweatship for Software Coders?
robbie_dee
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 195

posted 24 April 2005 02:24 PM      Profile for robbie_dee     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
More and more, American software firms are outsourcing jobs overseas. But dealing with foreign code shops could be a logistical clusterfuck: Language barriers with foreign programmers. Sketchy quality control. Production delays. And you waste all that damn time crossing the Pacific and then slogging through traffic in Delhi or Seoul or Manila just to do business.

Picture this instead: You buy a used cruise ship for $10 million to $300 million. You crew it, moor it in international waters just off El Segundo and wire it with fat T3 pipe fed by shore-to-ship microwave.

With 24-hour operation, the best (and least costly) coders on the planet, plenty of short-deadline gigs, and unparalleled ease of travel for the American management team, Roger Green and David Cook figure SeaCode can beat the domestic competition like a gong.


Read the Rest


From: Iron City | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Cougyr
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3336

posted 24 April 2005 02:59 PM      Profile for Cougyr     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
That doesn't surprise me. I would have thought that someone would have tried Baja first. I suppose that one can escape from Baja, but not the ship.
From: over the mountain | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged
robbie_dee
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 195

posted 28 April 2005 12:19 PM      Profile for robbie_dee     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
*Bump*

I'd be interested in more babblers thoughts on this wonderful idea.


From: Iron City | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Melsky
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4748

posted 28 April 2005 01:16 PM      Profile for Melsky   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
It seems like a very greedy but possibly successful idea at first. Then once you look at all the practicalities of it, the sewage, the transportation, dealing with having a lot of workers on a ship and having to feed and entertain them all, it just seems like they could end up losing a lot of money.
From: Toronto | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
Dex
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6764

posted 28 April 2005 01:25 PM      Profile for Dex     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I think this is a dumb idea that won't make any money.

First things first. There is no language barrier to speak of, and I fail to see how putting a bunch of programmers on a ship will alleviate these language barriers even if such barriers did exist. As as example, there are more english speakers in India than there are in the US, and anyone with the skills to do programming dsecribed in the article will have been in english-only schools and jobs for quite a few years by the time you start dealing with them.

Relative to the amount of money that goes elsewhere for an outsourcing project, the amount of travel required to manage an outsourcing relationship is actually pretty small. Otherwise, companies wouldn't be bothered with outsourcing because exortbitant travel costs would outweigh the lower wages. Besides, almost anything you can do in a face to face meeting as far as programming goes can be done via video conference. It's not like you have to hold the code in your hands to get a feel of it. The cost of buying a ship and maintaining it at sea would add tons of money to overhead costs, far more money than would be saved on travel costs. True, you may save time flying to a ship moored off the coast, but I doubt very much that you'd save money because you'd have to be flying private or chartered helicopters. Not exactly the cheapest way to fly.

Computer code, like any electronic data can be shipped at the speed of light. For transit purposes, code sent from the other side of the world arrives only a few nanoseconds slower than stuff sent from just off the coast. Same goes for e-mail, phone calls, faxes and more. On top of that, many overseas shops work with their clocks set to American time (whichever time zone(s) they're dealing with), so a mainland Korean or Indian firm can compete for the short deadline jobs just as effectively as this hare-brained boat scheme. And it goes without saying that they can work 24 hours as well.


From: ON then AB then IN now KS. Oh, how I long for a more lefterly location. | Registered: Aug 2004  |  IP: Logged
scooter
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 5548

posted 28 April 2005 01:54 PM      Profile for scooter     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Even when language is not a barrier, there is a cultural barrier that can be reflected in the code. How we do business in N. America is very different than doing business overseas.

For example, in Korea a cashier would always put your change on the counter to avoid the accidental touching of hands which is considered an insult. In N. America, this is seen as an insult and has lead to racial tensions in a few American communities.


From: High River | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
Dex
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6764

posted 28 April 2005 01:59 PM      Profile for Dex     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Well, yeah, but how does that get fixed by putting a bunch of people on a boat? And even if it does get fixed (or is somewhat ameliorated), is the cost of buying the ship and supplying it going to be outweighed by these increases in productivity? I think not.
From: ON then AB then IN now KS. Oh, how I long for a more lefterly location. | Registered: Aug 2004  |  IP: Logged
Blind_Patriot
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3830

posted 28 April 2005 02:56 PM      Profile for Blind_Patriot     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Here is the Sea-Code ship. They weren't kidding.

The Song of Norway...

[ 28 April 2005: Message edited by: Blind_Patriot ]


From: North Of The Authoritarian Regime | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged

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