The Computer Chronicles - High Tech India Part 2 (1989)

[@ericn9vjg]

Great show. Would be interesting to see all those places and people today in 2016.

[@liquidalloy]

@11:43 say what about 2020? how that prediction workout? 🤔

[@srijitoghosh5566]

Really well, I should say...

[@pamus6242]

Its 2020, here in India today. Corruption, political elemental nexus of regression and tribalism has ripped this country apart systematically for over 50 years. Brain drain is complete.

[@shiveshsingh3169]

However, it has slowed down in my honest opinion mate. These IIT graduates really had no meaningful choices in the country back when this series was filmed. Today, they actually do have a lot better options. I am not a fool to say that everything is perfect today, but it certainly is a lot better than in 1989, when this was shot, and today you have tangible chances of success at home. Still, We should desire even better ecosystems for our startups and industries, and that I fully support.

[@pamus6242]

@@shiveshsingh3169 All the old iitians have left the country for good. Today no Institute can produce anything of a degree higher than was. Those old oscilloscope's are rotting away in a lab somewhere. Opportunity is a subjective word. No engineer of competence will work for Microsoft or google for too long. They are either sitting in some back alleys of bangalore or kerala doing their own projects and contributing to kernel code getting paid by linaro. The others have left for good working in Germany or somewhere doing code to the metal or drone design. Hardware is technically a dead industry outside of big corporations.

[@shiveshsingh3169]

@@pamus6242 Look, I am not saying everything is mushy and rosy now. We still can't compete with the work opportunities or the benefits of working abroad. But those jobs are few and not everyone is going to get them. The old IITians are gone and that's true. But the thing is, why did they leave? Because they couldn't be integrated into the work force at home, nor could start their own businesses back in the day. In 1989, there was no budding start up industry, no sector other than IT had even a glimmer of hope for growth. I maybe naive, I agree. But the situation back then is no match for what we have today. Today, sectors other than IT too are showing some promise. The startup culture is too taking a good hold. These new ventures are not going to be on the scale of BMW or Amazon, nor the opportunities as grandiose as they would offer. But atleast they are viable, and IITians today are much more likely to try a startup of their own. And why just the IITian? There are so many other colleges too. The country doesn't depend on IITians to do everything, and good ideas are not dependent on the institute where you studied. All I am saying is that today, the situation today is much more better than what is was back in 1989. People still go out of here and work abroad today too. But atleast that is not their only shot at a better life today. As the pandemic has shown many the true stability that they have abroad, I believe many realise the action they are missing back at home. There is a lot more going on today, than it was 30 years ago. It's not much if you think about it in quantitative terms, but a good start in my book.

[@pamus6242]

@@shiveshsingh3169 Fair enough. At least you have introspection to look within. So, no are not naive. Modern Institute churn out brain dead zombies. At most you understand the bandwidth at which reality becomes a compliant slum.

[@shashankbj3804]

It's 2023 and we've made progress!at least shit is looking on track. GDP growth rate is at an all time high! And We've got Unicorns left and right!

[@juannunez5767]

It looks like India never really made it past the cheap labor stage for its tech field. It takes a lot more than just a large number of graduates to build a true robust tech industry. You need infrastructure and you need money for R&D. They lack both of those.

[@shiveshsingh3169]

Now that's a true statement. We really do lack the funds and R&D required to create global tech companies. But I would indeed say that actual progress is being made on that front too. Situation has changed a lot since 1989, back then only IT sector prospered while the rest stagnated. But now, even Indian firms are making moves in other countries too. However, my main point of contention is that a nation as large as India can't bank on just IT to achieve prosperity. We need a whole lot of industries to move even further ahead. I can definitely say that there has been progress on that front too, and the future looks good for even the non IT sectors too. Still, your statement still holds merit as the requirements far outstrip the supplies. We need even more funds and R&D to sustain our budding ecosystem. I hope everything improves even more in the future.

[@PixelTrik]

@@shiveshsingh3169 Those two are my main concerns too. At this point, HCL and Wipro aren't as reputed as they used to be when this episode was aired.

[@terrancevanliew1814]

Mastering a second language. The only skill it's considered racist to compliment.

[@oldtwinsna8347]

30 years ago, very disappointing progress.