Here's another take on the subject of pigeon-holing of engineers.
Usually, when a an engineer says something "stupid" it's factual but
put's his company or product in a bad light. When a marketing-type says
something stupid, it's usually --how do I say this nice-- less than
factual, but that's OK because he's not a technical guy so lying in that
area is OK for the sales group mentality. This has been the source for
countless Dilbert cartoons.
Most, if not all ethical codes for professional engineers require that
engineers put society & the public good above that of his company or
even the law for that matter. So ethically he's required to say these
"stupid" things when the facts support it, whereas marketing folks are
not required to tell the truth or even anything resembling it. In fact
just the opposite is true. (That's why some companies keep the
engineer's "in the lab" so to speak.) When a journalist cannot tell the
difference, that tells us a lot about his character or intelligence or
lack thereof.
It's when there's disagreement among engineers about what is best for
society and the public good that we get things like BPL being proposed.
Is it better to have more ISP connections & competition for our society,
or is it better to protect rare and irreplaceable spectrum resources
that can better serve society in times of disaster and crisis? That's
the heart of matter in my opinion.
Now, let's get back to fighting the enemy.
73,
de ed -K0iL
-----Original Message-----
From: rfi-bounces@contesting.com
On Thu, 01 Apr 2004 22:34:01 -0500, Mike Coslo wrote:
>You are taking insults where none are meant.
No insult taken or intended, Mike.
But I have seen far too many companies who pigeonhole their engineers
into the narrow boxes you describe. When they do, they hurt their
companies by preventing communication between their engineers and the
outside world (their customers, their customers' needs, and the
exchange of ideas), and they hurt the engineers by preventing their
professional growth. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy -- "our engineers
don't know anything outside the lab" -- but we don't let them outside
the lab, certainly not to a trade show where they might meet customers
and say something stupid. As if they could say something more
embarrassing than the marketing dweebs (often managers) that inhabit
most trade show booths.
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