The Education, Technology, and Piracy Formula?
Technology executives want better schools, fewer software pirates - 06/17/04... I am pretty sure that I have heard this song before. This time the chorus includes Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, Adobe's Bruce Chizen, Symatec's John Thompson, McaAfee Security's George Samenuk, Solidworks Corp.'s John McEleney, and RSA Security's Art Coviello.
I look into the faces of these executives, generally from the same generation, and have a better understanding of the confusion with the blending of criticism of education, exporting technology, and problems with international piracy. My confusion goes something like this:
Mr Coviello asks, "Why can't we get in the educational system the same increase in productivity that we've gotten in the rest of the economy?" Let's see... could it be that assembly line, industrial revolution models of education from the 19th century aren't working as well as it did when Mr. Coviello was in school? Could it be that funding for improved education doesn't come close to proportionate amounts of spending that his company puts into R&D? Could it be that the female dominated secondary educator pool is paid a pittance of what most of these aging, male, mostly Caucasian, executives are paid?
John McEleney, "described buying a black market copy of his company's $4,000 engineering design software for $4 during a recent swing through Asia"... and this is the area of the world that we want doing our high tech production because math and science are revered and apparently ethics and rule of international law are somehow lacking? Might I suggest that all that R&D money be poured into Asia so that your $4,000 piece of software can be sold for it's apparent market value of $4.00 and exported back to the US (meow).
Bill Conner, chief executive at Entrust Inc., suggested "schools should offer better opportunities in math and science for women and minorities." He said students who excel in these areas still face stereotypes they are nerds. The last time that I looked across campus, none of our math and science classrooms were labeled "for women and minorities only"... and the tatoo business is just waiting for the day that women line up to have 'GEEK' plastered across the lower back so that it will show in the latest mid-drift syle. ...and while we are whining, what percentage of that highly skilled Asian workforce includes women and minorities?
I have ranted enough (and yes, I feel better)... but the issues of educational reform, globalization of technology, and piracy of intellectual property do not combine well into any sort of empircal or legislative formula. I am not implying that there are not relationships between the issues...but to hear this generational group of executive's black-and-white-issue-solutions makes me believe that perhaps they received entirely too much math and science training in their background and missed the boat on what a liberal arts education means to the rest of humanity. Do I pass the collection plate here?