Comments on: Bush shows support for tech industry

On a visit to Silicon Valley, president emphasizes need to keep U.S. on "bleeding edge" of technology.

[maxwis]

The Bleeding Edge

In a statement following the meeting with John Chambers, President B. said, "It is important to remember that the U.S. must do everything it can to maintain its lead in bleeding edge razor blades. Sure, you get cut sometimes using them, but change is always painful. That's why styptic pencils, which were invented in the U.S., were created. Now, it is true that many razor blades are manufactured abroad, but that is simply because Americans can't or won't produce razor blades here. We live in GLOBAL economy. We must not deny the good people of China, the peaceful propsperous Chinese people from China, the opportunity to make razor blades. After all, at least we Americans are still shaving ourselves. And I will vigorously defend the right of every American, the good people of America, to shave themselves. With Chinese razor blades. And Indian styptic pencils.".

[Nocturnex]

no...wrong

what hes saying is more we better make our kids smarter before our economy gets its ass handed to us....or in a sense more intot he money issue...but hell id prefer it if MY kids were CPL gamers and Google level entreapranuers(hehe i cant even spell it, for once i must tip my hat to the billions of dollars we waste =p, we should invest it in things like dictionary.com =p)

[Vetter83]

Bleeding economy, no tech....

If 'bright boy' wasnt bleeding our economy to the tune of 1.7 BILLION DOLLARS A DAY to destroy a soverign nation based on lies and deciept then we could invest in our technology industry, schools and be the leader of the world... but not when we are broke! Halliburton and Big Oil are doing fine tho....

[onward]

or as Robert Noyce would say,

"Go off and do something wonderful."

[Bill Dautrive]

Only way it is going to happen

is the US start to invest seriously in education. The lack of math skills of high school graduates is alarming. Without those math skills, there is no strong tech economy.

Perhaps we need to get a president that isn't the epitome of mediocrity and corruption?

[Stating]

Are China And India Standing Still?

The Pressuredent seems to think that if we just churn out more engineering students our problems will be solved. Beyond attending lavish state dinners abroad where he is shielded by a phalanx of men in black, has he not figured out that countries like China and India are churning out hordes of trained engineers and other professionals? Does he not know that an engineer in India or China costs only a fraction as much as their U.S. counterparts? Does he not know that these governments subsidize large parts of their production value chain to achieve long-term domination? Yes, we are truly blessed to have a 19th century leader for the 21st century.

[Ipod Apple]

engineer in India

http://www.analogstereo.com/volvo_242_244_245_owners_manual.htm

Maybe W needs to take some remedial math & science

Seems the President needs to go back to school himself to take more Math and Science classes and get a clue as to what it will take to get that type of education; at the level that he prescribes, and the cost to do it. Instead of funneling money to his cronies companies he needs to direct it at education. And not just for the rich cronies kids that have contributed to his regime, but for everyone. In as far as the H1-B issue, leave it at is present levels. In the U.S. there are a lot of tech workers still looking for work and an influx of 'talent' (a good misnomer for some) from the outside is not necessary. There needs to be a focus on building up your own 'homegrown' talent. That is how we will compete in the Global economy. And this is not saying we need to be isolationist, but that we need to look inward first to find the solutions to our problems.

[kenny-J]

Two things

I'd like to see a poll that shows how much H1B engineers are paid in comparison to American. If they are paid the same, there is not economic benefit to importing them, so logic would lead to a conclusion that the employers cannot find what they need in this country.

It's been mentioned before, why aren't we taking a look at our educational system and the costs of a higher education today? After 25 years in the high tech industry, I decided to try education and taught as an undergraduate and graduate level professor for 5 years, and went to college and high school administration for another 5. Ten years was all I could stomach. Talk about arrogant, union minded, out of touch people, nobody beats the population of academics. Their paradigm is born of the 18th century and staying there. No way could I justify the cost of a doctoral with what I expected to receive in salary. I worked full time while I studied for both my Bachelor & Master, and was fortunate enough to have my employer pay my tuition. That's a tough long road no matter how you cut it. Not only do we give the gun to the "enemy" we point it at our foot for them.

[hawkeyeaz1]

Kill DRM, DMCA, and other unnecessary licensing

That is the only way to garantee the US remains compettitive! One Chinese company announced yesterday the "Municator" Computer for roughly $150 because they didn't have licensing fees.

DRM and other 'rights protection' (DMCA, the soon to be propsed extension, software patents...) is threatening to kill innovation right now because it is seeking to make common and ethical practice, as well as personal (i.e. no harm or loss to others) practices illegal. This is where innovation comes from.

[fred dunn]

And He says this with a straight face....

All the while the economy is in the dumps. The deficit is the highest it has been in the history of the US.
But not to worry he and his buddies will have sweet retirements made even sweeter by the deals he's making while being "King George".
As an IT worker I'll be lucky to have enough to live on during retirement, that is if retirement is even an option.
All that will be left of the US economy after 'W' will be service jobs.
Get used to saying "Would you like fries with that?"

[rderveloy]

Yeah, they need the tech for more warrentless wiretaps.

People are getting angry over the warrentless wiretaps. I wouldn't be suprised if this is just a bid to make the taps harder to detect by using more advanced technology.