Bagless Vacuum Inventor Wants More Engineers, Less Game Devs

[Smooth Operator]

You know you're and old man when you claim the only useful profession is your own, such nonsense has been uttered by every old geezer who ever lived.

 

[teebeeohh]

in related news german companies have complained for years that those famous german engineers increasingly don't start working in Germany after graduating. they have been crying their beady little eyes out trying to figure out why, turns out it's simple, they don't want to pay them like proper engineers.

ot: yeah, he is pretty much right.
btw are we talking about people who study engineering or about people who graduate? because engineering has a pretty high drop out rate, of the people who started with me only about 20% survived the first 3 semesters.

 

[thetruefallen]

some times i read the credits of my video games. i have never read the credits for my vacuum. If im going to have the lowest rung job in the company, at least with games i get credit for such.

 

[kyogen]

in related news german companies have complained for years that those famous german engineers increasingly don't start working in Germany after graduating. they have been crying their beady little eyes out trying to figure out why, turns out it's simple, they don't want to pay them like proper engineers.

I dunno. The German arms industry is doing rather well. Speaking of which, if he's saying we're supposed to be worried about "faddish" industries, why not at least lament how much engineering talent is being devoted to destructive industries as well?

 

[hotdogoctopus]

Engineering FTW! "Let me give you some advice, if you're a young person who writes poetry, throw it all away right now"

 

[mgirl]

Expect a lot of games about sarcasm, mild xenophobia and binge drinking, in other words.

Hah! I feel like I should be offended at that but it's just so damn true. Genuinely made me laugh right there.

 

[Narcogen]

Translation: A shortage of qualified engineers is creating an employee's market where labor is too expensive. Please create a glut of overeducated engineers so I can depress wages, and/or provide a government subsidy to lower my costs. After all, a vacuum cleaner is just as important as cultural products like music, film and games, right?

On second thought, from reading the thread it seems there is no such shortage, so I don't know what Dyson is on about.

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

The UK government recently announced plans for a 25 percent tax break for "video games, animation and high-end television industries" that pass a "cultural test" proving their Britishness.

I wonder how high Downton Abbey scored on this test.

 

[DarthFennec]

"Britain is very proud about the number of foreign students we educate at our universities," he told the Sunday Times, "but actually all we are doing is educating our competitors."

Yeah cause, whether two people are competing totally depends on whether they live far away from each other, and not at all whether they work for different companies trying to provide similar services. I'm not at all sure how video games aren't "technology we can export", the fact that they're not "tangible" shouldn't matter when it comes to sales. Assuming he's worried about the UK's economy, which is what it seems like to me. If he's actually worried about advances in technology ... I don't think "MOAR ENGINERRNG MAJRZ!" is going to help much. To clarify, this is a list of things I think may advance technology, in the future: quantum computing research, artificial intelligence research, battery research, aerospace research, things like that. Notice that I didn't include things like segways, phone teeth, virtual and gestural computer interfaces, roombas, and bagless vacuum cleaners.

 

[Bobic]

plans for a 25 percent tax break for "video games, animation and high-end television industries" that pass a "cultural test" proving their Britishness. Expect a lot of games about sarcasm, mild xenophobia and binge drinking, in other words.

You missed off the culmination of those things into Britain's favourite passtime. . .

Oh, it's been done, I guess we don't need that tax break then. (it's an RTS of all things, believe it or not).

In all seriousness I quite respect Mr. Dyson. He made one hell of a hoover, the problem is that games are just significantly more interesting to most people than hoovers, so more people will want to work on them.

 

[WanderingFool]

On the subject of rubbish vacuum jokes; at uni one day the lecturer was discussing the cleverness of marketing adverts that can affect you, and asked the class, "For example, why are Dyson so successful?"

I pipe up, "Because they suck."

(I feel an odd mixture of shame and pride at that one)

Hell, I would be proud of that... also ima gonna steal it...

 

[maninahat]

On the subject of rubbish vacuum jokes; at uni one day the lecturer was discussing the cleverness of marketing adverts that can affect you, and asked the class, "For example, why are Dyson so successful?"

I pipe up, "Because they suck."

(I feel an odd mixture of shame and pride at that one)

Was the answer "because Dyson are the only vacuum cleaner company that bothers to advertise vacuums in the first place, and then when people actually buy their overly-complicated, over priced vacuums, they have to sink more money into the damn thing on repairs when it inevitably breaks down to justify spending so much money on it in the first place"?

 

[Zipa]

So I guess all the engineers that design things like processors, GPUs ect are a figment of peoples imagination right? Though to be fair a lot of those things are neither designed or built in the UK. (might be something to do with the government constantly stifling business with bullshit taxes )

And you missed mild bouts of casual violence of that list of British things Grey.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Here's a hint. If a student is willing to put themselves through the extended hours of a good game development course fully realize how many hours they will be putting in and how little pay they will get compared to what they could be doing, and they don't jump ship like rats from the Titanic, you aren't going to convince them otherwise. You might be able to convince the high number of slackers who think the profession will be fun to join you, but honestly they aren't going to stop being slackers so you don't want them.

 

[Danial]

I hear keeping your major electronics company inside mainland UK and not China is also a great way to help the UK.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

His proposed solution is to offer incentives to prospective students and ensure high salaries are waiting for them when they graduate. The UK government recently announced plans for a 25 percent tax break for "video games, animation and high-end television industries" that pass a "cultural test" proving their Britishness. Expect a lot of games about sarcasm, mild xenophobia and binge drinking, in other words.

Unless he is offering absolutely guaranteed jobs for graduates, there is little use telling students that if they become an engineer they could make more money.

People say stupid stuff like that over here in the US. "Oh, go into this field, you will be guaranteed a job." Wink wink. People, if anybody tells you that, tell them they are full of crap. Closest thing people here in the US get to having a guaranteed job is if they are coming out of college and have three to five years of experience in their field(college doesn't count as experience) and have five good outside referrals, and at least two or three good inside connections at the place they are looking to work. Of course, I said close to guaranteed, because nothing is ever guaranteed(well unless you are one of the luckiest people in the world).

If he is looking for engineers, why doesn't he import some from here in the US. There are plenty of engineer students coming out of colleges here with jobs few and far between.

Heck, I have a friend who graduated with an engineering degree around four years ago. What work has he had? Stocking at a Target for about six months, three months working at an oil refinery(then got laid off because supply talks for the plant went downhill), and now for almost a year, all he has had is a part time job as a cashier and back office worker at a grocery store.

So I would say to Dyson, "Unless you are truly offering something real to students, your wanting of more engineers is a pipe dream. Because, I'm willing the bet the same stupid hiring practices happen over there like they do here, so that is what scares students off from going for degrees in such things."