[LINK] IT experts, journalists et al. was What is IT journalism anyway?

[Howard Lowndes]

On Fri, 15 Nov 2002, Ann Moffatt wrote:

> bernard said
>
> "I get a bit peeved when I see someone like Miss Megabyte being billed as an
> IT guru who can answer all your questions on computers."
>
> me too!!
>
> somehow the ICT 'profession' has allowed itself to be trivialised and most
> of the general public has no idea at all about what 'ICT' really is.
>
> now i know most people don't understand engineering or physics or medicine
> but at least there is an understanding that those who profess to be
> 'experts' or 'professionals' in those fields do have a knowledge not
> possessed by people outside their profession.

I put this down to commoditisation of IT with the intro of the IBM PC.  I
think the various computer societies (ACS et al) allowed the profession to
be commoditised at that stage.  Why were they not able to gain control of
their profession in the same manner as lawyers, doctors, architects,
(various) engineers, etc.  I know the ACS has a strong professional
training regime, but there is no incentive, or professional need, to be a
member.  Sorry Brenda and other ACS members, I used to be an MACS, but I
failed then to see what they were able to do for me that would protect my
professionalism, and I still fail to see that.

[perhaps we might like to take that into another thread :)]

>
> i remember giving a client a $multi million quote for a huge system and
> being told that his teenage son wrote programs and could probably knock up
> this system in a couple of nights at home!! (fortunately, he wasn't the only
> decision maker.)

I recall about 20 years ago a librarian/manager of a major regional public
library quite confidently stating that computerisation of their library
services (equivalent to URICA) could be done for around $5,000.
Fortunately she retired not soon afterwards.

>
> similarly, i remember a discussion in a masters degree class on why so many
> ICT projects run over budget. one fairly senior manager quite genuinely said
> he ALWAYS underestimates because if he told his clients the real cost he'd
> never get approval-once they'd spent many millions but were only part way
> thru a project they never cancelled because it would be admitting an error
> in their acceptance of the original quote!!
>
> i don't know what we can do about the issue of 'trivialising' ICT but its
> been concerning me for ages.

-- 
Howard.
LANNet Computing Associates - Your Linux people
Contact detail at http://www.lannetlinux.com
"Flatter government, not fatter government." - me
 Get rid of the Australian states.
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