Ted, Ted, Ted

Trying to decide what to make of this. Offshoring has been on my mind as I’ve been getting ready to spend the second half of October in India working with my tiny team of tech writers. I’ve been pretty clear on where I belong in this whole picture: I don’t trust corporations to manage globalization, I don’t think the economic or social effects are nearly as pretty on either side as the Friedmanite hacks propose, and I don’t think cheap and docile labor power is a very good trade for quality and productivity. On the other hand: I don’t think I can make a living without participating in the software industry, and that means having some role in an offshoring relationship no matter what company I work for. I’ve tried to do it ethically, making sure everyone my own work touches comes off the better for it and practicing as much cultural relativism as I can figure out how. And let me not deny I’ve had a lot of fun with it — for all its hassles, an India trip twice a year is a eal privilege.