4 ms·

I have never heard the term "American" programmer. Why?

ska 11y ago
I have, but not in America. Perhaps an "us" as opposed to "them" pre-supposition on the part of writers wherever they are?
smeyer 11y ago
Are you in the US and/or consuming primarily American media sources? I'd imagine the term might be more common in articles written in India and the term Indian programmer more common in articles written in the US.
- mkagenius 11y ago
  I am in India. Never heard American programmer. Maybe Indian media doesn't cover much tech.
  - smeyer 11y ago
    Interesting, thanks for the perspective. I wonder if the term is more common in any other countries or just uncommon in general. I can find a few examples googling but that doesn't really answer if it's common or not.
  - duaneb 11y ago
    I felt it was more about the situation of the person (being an Indian ISP and in India) rather than a defining characteristic of the person. I would expect them to call a programmer American if it's an Indian newspaper and the piece of news happened in the US.
danso 11y ago
So...without knowing anything more about you...I would guess the reason is because you currently either reside in the U.S. or get much of your news from U.S.-based sources. So a U.S.-based press outlet might write this: "The Game of Thrones cast includes British actors Kit Harrington and Emilia Clarke" But a U.S.-based press outlet would probably not write this, because it is assumed their audience is American and the "default" nationality is American unless stated otherwise: "The cast of Seinfeld includes American actors Jerry Seinfeld and Julia Louis-Dreyfus" In the case of the OP, TechCrunch is an American based outlet with a heavily American-skewed audience. If this case involved an American programmer who exposed the flaw, it might not be in the headline, but it would likely be stated in the body text since the story deals with two foreign-owned entities and the readers could likely be curious about the affiliation of the programmer.
venomsnake 11y ago
Can we stop with the identity politics and use our brains for a while (and yes, recently I have figured out that they are mutually exclusive). It is Indian programmer because he is from India and a programmer. And the fact that the mobile operator is also in India is also relevant ... so what is happens is that Israeli company with the help of Indian mobile operator censors Indian programmer that has unearthed wrongdoing using US law. The guys that were from Russia and tried on wall street were referred as Russians too.
__z 11y ago
Now you have :) (Indian Source) http://www.mid-day.com/articles/10-interesting-facts-about-facebook-co-founder-mark-zuckerberg/16208170 http://www.mid-day.com/articles/10-interesting-facts-about-f... >On the 31st birthday of noted American programmer, software developer and co-founder of the social media giant Facebook we look at some interesting trivia about the man and his creation...
biot 11y ago
Now you have: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-10685669 http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-10685669 "It took a long time for the international media to pick up on the story, so I spent a long time following the Kampala hashtag on Twitter and checking my e-mail," said Jonathan Gosier, an American programmer living in the country. And: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-21280943 http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-21280943 There's a buzzword, coined by the American programmer Ward Cunningham, for the problems hidden in computer systems as a result of corners being cut: technical debt. Also: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22american+programmer%22+site%3Aindiatimes.com https://www.google.com/search?q=%22american+programmer%22+si...

ska 11y ago

I have, but not in America. Perhaps an "us" as opposed to "them" pre-supposition on the part of writers wherever they are?

smeyer 11y ago

Are you in the US and/or consuming primarily American media sources? I'd imagine the term might be more common in articles written in India and the term Indian programmer more common in articles written in the US.

mkagenius 11y ago
I am in India. Never heard American programmer. Maybe Indian media doesn't cover much tech.
- smeyer 11y ago
  Interesting, thanks for the perspective. I wonder if the term is more common in any other countries or just uncommon in general. I can find a few examples googling but that doesn't really answer if it's common or not.
- duaneb 11y ago
  I felt it was more about the situation of the person (being an Indian ISP and in India) rather than a defining characteristic of the person. I would expect them to call a programmer American if it's an Indian newspaper and the piece of news happened in the US.

danso 11y ago

So...without knowing anything more about you...I would guess the reason is because you currently either reside in the U.S. or get much of your news from U.S.-based sources. So a U.S.-based press outlet might write this: "The Game of Thrones cast includes British actors Kit Harrington and Emilia Clarke" But a U.S.-based press outlet would probably not write this, because it is assumed their audience is American and the "default" nationality is American unless stated otherwise: "The cast of Seinfeld includes American actors Jerry Seinfeld and Julia Louis-Dreyfus" In the case of the OP, TechCrunch is an American based outlet with a heavily American-skewed audience. If this case involved an American programmer who exposed the flaw, it might not be in the headline, but it would likely be stated in the body text since the story deals with two foreign-owned entities and the readers could likely be curious about the affiliation of the programmer.

venomsnake 11y ago

Can we stop with the identity politics and use our brains for a while (and yes, recently I have figured out that they are mutually exclusive). It is Indian programmer because he is from India and a programmer. And the fact that the mobile operator is also in India is also relevant ... so what is happens is that Israeli company with the help of Indian mobile operator censors Indian programmer that has unearthed wrongdoing using US law. The guys that were from Russia and tried on wall street were referred as Russians too.

__z 11y ago

Now you have :) (Indian Source) http://www.mid-day.com/articles/10-interesting-facts-about-facebook-co-founder-mark-zuckerberg/16208170 http://www.mid-day.com/articles/10-interesting-facts-about-f... >On the 31st birthday of noted American programmer, software developer and co-founder of the social media giant Facebook we look at some interesting trivia about the man and his creation...

biot 11y ago

Now you have: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-10685669 http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-10685669 "It took a long time for the international media to pick up on the story, so I spent a long time following the Kampala hashtag on Twitter and checking my e-mail," said Jonathan Gosier, an American programmer living in the country. And: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-21280943 http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-21280943 There's a buzzword, coined by the American programmer Ward Cunningham, for the problems hidden in computer systems as a result of corners being cut: technical debt. Also: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22american+programmer%22+site%3Aindiatimes.com https://www.google.com/search?q=%22american+programmer%22+si...