3 ms·

Based on this data I found, it is an insanely large gap. US ~7/10 people have computers, in some parts of africa ~1/1000 https://www.nationmaster.com/country-i

Based on this data I found, it is an insanely large gap. US ~7/10 people have computers, in some parts of africa ~1/1000 https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Media/Personal-computers/Per-capita https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Media/Person...

Nextgrid 4y ago
But what about places like India? Computer penetration must be pretty good for there to be a sizeable software engineering and outsourcing market. The problem is the skills and communication, which stem from this situation being the status-quo and there being nowhere for new developers to learn anything better (or even know that their current skills aren't up to scratch, at least not for working on foreign, outsourced projects).
- bipop5000 4y ago
  You are underestimating the ratio of the country's poor vs the number of people in technology. India has an insane amount of people who are way poorer than what we in the west would call poverty.
  - zapataband1 4y ago
    Yeah india was 15/1000 people have computers
- bipop5000 4y ago
  There are way too many people without personal computers in India.
  - Nextgrid 4y ago
    Yes, but I'm not talking about those. I'm refuting the point that better access to computers in cheaper countries will put Western developers out of jobs by saying that those who already have computers still aren't taking our jobs (if anything, they create jobs as we then have to fix or rebuild the mess they created).
- frontman1988 4y ago
  Computer penetration in India is very less given even the upper middle class kids only get a personal laptop when they enter university. But this is slowly changing. You can expect India to dominate in IT in the coming decades. Afterall there's a reason Indian Americans are already the richest group of people in the richest country of the world. It's very difficult to stop hardworking people in the long run.
  - filoleg 4y ago
    > there's a reason Indian Americans are already the richest group of people in the richest country of the world. The real reason is that their country of origin just has a massive number of people, and the ones who are able to immigrate to the US are those who have either money or skills that will make them money here. Same goes for Chinese Americans. There is a source country with a massive number of people, and the target country (with a fraction of the residents of the source country). The target country filters immigration for high skill and/or high income. Just through the sheer numbers game, you get the outcome you described. Of course, it is more nuanced in terms of the overall development level of the source country (e.g., this probably wouldn't work if pretty much no one in India was able to afford a computer or if India had almost no internet connectivity). But with how high the Indian level of development is as a country (compared to the minimum required for the numbers game to start working), it shouldn't matter.
- zapataband1 4y ago
  If you looked at the data, in india it's 15/1000 people.

Nextgrid 4y ago

But what about places like India? Computer penetration must be pretty good for there to be a sizeable software engineering and outsourcing market. The problem is the skills and communication, which stem from this situation being the status-quo and there being nowhere for new developers to learn anything better (or even know that their current skills aren't up to scratch, at least not for working on foreign, outsourced projects).

bipop5000 4y ago
You are underestimating the ratio of the country's poor vs the number of people in technology. India has an insane amount of people who are way poorer than what we in the west would call poverty.
- zapataband1 4y ago
  Yeah india was 15/1000 people have computers
bipop5000 4y ago
There are way too many people without personal computers in India.
- Nextgrid 4y ago
  Yes, but I'm not talking about those. I'm refuting the point that better access to computers in cheaper countries will put Western developers out of jobs by saying that those who already have computers still aren't taking our jobs (if anything, they create jobs as we then have to fix or rebuild the mess they created).
frontman1988 4y ago
Computer penetration in India is very less given even the upper middle class kids only get a personal laptop when they enter university. But this is slowly changing. You can expect India to dominate in IT in the coming decades. Afterall there's a reason Indian Americans are already the richest group of people in the richest country of the world. It's very difficult to stop hardworking people in the long run.
- filoleg 4y ago
  > there's a reason Indian Americans are already the richest group of people in the richest country of the world. The real reason is that their country of origin just has a massive number of people, and the ones who are able to immigrate to the US are those who have either money or skills that will make them money here. Same goes for Chinese Americans. There is a source country with a massive number of people, and the target country (with a fraction of the residents of the source country). The target country filters immigration for high skill and/or high income. Just through the sheer numbers game, you get the outcome you described. Of course, it is more nuanced in terms of the overall development level of the source country (e.g., this probably wouldn't work if pretty much no one in India was able to afford a computer or if India had almost no internet connectivity). But with how high the Indian level of development is as a country (compared to the minimum required for the numbers game to start working), it shouldn't matter.
zapataband1 4y ago
If you looked at the data, in india it's 15/1000 people.