When I first saw that on the back of an iPhone, I thought, “Oh, that’s cool.”
I thought about it for a few minutes, then poked around to find out where they’re made: China, Vietnam, and India, where costs are low and the quality is acceptable.
Sounds like the market for software developers.
I can conceptualize, design, and outsource a software product to developers worldwide and have an MVP ready to field in days for very little money.
Is this bad? Not necessarily.
It’s just business.
So what’s a person to do?
Become a Systems Engineer
I get some weird responses when I mention Systems Engineering on my timeline. I don’t think many normies know what systems engineering is, and I can say that because there was a time when I had no idea either. For me, the confusion was caused by the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer program. They are talking about systems, but it’s not systems engineering.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with my background, this is the TL;DR:
Barely graduated high school, joined the USMC, went to school, dropped out, worked jobs that sucked, got into programming as a contractor, started a company, sold it, made a bunch of money, lost it in a divorce, got remarried, had three awesome kids, went back to school and knocked out a BS, MS, and MEng.
The pivotal moment in my career was studying for my MEng from Stevens.
It opened up a whole new world to me, where we can all work together to crank out reliable systems in record time. Economic issues need to be addressed, but that’s beyond the scope of my ability and understanding. I pay the developers I work with a rate acceptable to both parties.
Systems engineering means survival for technical people
Software engineering and systems engineering are closely related disciplines, each with its own focus and objectives.
Software engineering involves designing, developing, and maintaining software applications and systems. It emphasizes creating efficient, reliable, and scalable software solutions. Software engineers work on coding, testing, debugging, maintaining, yadda, yadda, yadda.
On the other hand, systems engineering takes a broader approach. It focuses on designing and managing complex systems, including hardware, software, and other components. Systems engineers ensure that all system elements work together to meet overall objectives. Systems engineers do requirements analysis, modeling, verification, and validation to achieve system integration and functionality.
Both disciplines require strong problem-solving skills; software engineers often delve deeply into coding and algorithms, while systems engineers prioritize integrating and coordinating various components to achieve system-level goals.
Learn to “Design in California.”
Don’t be the builder expecting that life will always roll on the way it always has.
If you live in the United States anywhere away from the coastal areas and big cities, you know what I’m talking about. The plants are gone, the old jobs are gone, and people are scrapping for dollars.
Want to be in a better place 12 short months from now? We can make that happen.
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