Re: Club Tshirt - Re: Windows haters... WHY???

James 'Woody' Webster (jrwebste@nospam.socs.uts.edu.au)
Tue, 12 Sep 1995 08:59:38 +1000 (EST)

On Mon, 11 Sep 1995 pmeric@nospam.vnet.ibm.com wrote:

> *** Reply to note of 09/11/95 14:53
> From: Peter Meric +61-2-353-3889 DP13
> Project Assistant - IT Consulting
> ISSC Australia
> Subject: Re: Club Tshirt - Re: Windows haters... WHY???
>
> jrwebster *is* a BTech, isn't he... (in response to Jimmy's note about
> considering being a BTech).

Considering that people are talking about me behind my back, and that I
am probably the only BTech on this list (???) I suppose I better answer
the call...

> I don't agree, however, that the BTech course is the way to go. I find
> that BTech's miss out on a lot of job opportunities because of their
> course - as far as I'm concerned, most would be better off in CompSci
> or Business courses.

Hmmm. So are you suggesting that BTech's are less employable because of
their degree??? Then how do you explain the near 100% employment rates
of 3rd years. Natch, I do not want to start a CompSci vs BTech argument,
again because I don't believe there are any others active on this list
(Jon???). Sometimes I get the feeling that alot of the resentment coming
from the CompSci corner is due to the money, and the feeling that BTechs
are half-way up themselves, which I assure you is not true...

I am guessing that you are critiscing the course because of a lack of
technical orientation? Well then, I would tend to agree with you. This
is changing however, all new students (as of this year) are given the
opportunity to undertake a number of electives (I don't know how vast
their choice is though).

So a BTech is more likely to end up working for a bank/insurance
company/major IT firm, rather than Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, or
any number of small development shops that you can name. This may or may
not be true (most BTechs grad and work within the sponsoring group of
companies, but a number of them look outside this field, as I am
intending).

Speaking personally, I have endeavoured to gain skills in a number of
arenas not offered by my course. I have Delphi, C, C++, a bit of 80x86
assem, VB, SQLWindows. I know a little bit about 3d basics, and VGA
programming (primarily Mode13h...), bleah, bleah, bleah. I have taught
myself all of this. How much of this (besides C/C++) is taught within
university???

> This is, of course, irrelevant once the person has a job, as the
> degree they gained fades into irrelevance (although never completely...)

Indeed. So if a BTech grad invests their time in gaining technical
skills, then essentially they are no different from a CompSci...

Actually, here is something for everyone to think about. A friend of a
friend (who is in his early-20's) is of the opinion that computing
degrees (CompSci, BTech, AppSci, whatever), aren't worth the paper they
are printed on. His opinion is that most comp.sci students are wasting
their time at uni, time which would be better spent in industry learning
stuff you need to know! Time management, project management, industrial
strength coding, etc, etc. To give you some idea of his skills profile,
I believe this gentleman has recently been offered a career working for a
British game development software house. And, of course, he has no
degree! You Decide!

Later,
James

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