IBM recently opposed electricity rate hikes in Vermont. The vendor says the 9% hike isn't in the public interest--or its own, for that matter. IBM operates a microelectronics plant in Burlington. Hey, why not simply move the plant to India? --Paul McDougall
informationweek.com/1120/blog_outsource.htm

I think it would be a cost savings to IBM to just leave the facilities in Vermont and import labor from India and China to physically turn dynamos to generate the power needed to operate the plant. It shouldn't have any problem finding the labor, and since these are new positions it doesn't have to pay any prevailing wages comparable to what's being paid locally. I say go for it, IBM. Even Wal-Mart might be interested in this new concept, seeing how it needs to reduce its $1 billion energy problem. Shoot, IBM might even be able to come up with some profitable software product in conjunction with this venture. --Watts Kilojoules

The energy source driving the whole Indian phenomenon can be epitomized by one question: Which is cheaper, one American plumber or 500 Indian night-soil carriers? (And don't anybody get all huffy about my mentioning night-soil carriers. They absolutely still are a key part of the Indian sanitation system.) A few years ago, I had to get rid of a big old dying tree wedged between powerlines and the house--not a do-it-yourself job. Four guys came in a bucket truck and took the tree down before lunch. Cost me a thousand bucks. Think how much more efficient it would have been to do it the Indian way: Two hundred guys with little hatchets work all day tearing the tree down stick by stick. Cost: 200 bucks. Five times more efficient. No wonder they're replacing us. --Puddleglum

The only job I want to see outsourced (or insourced) is Paul McDougall's. I'm willing to foot the bill for the staffing agency to find his replacement, and I'm serious about that. The only ground rule is that his replacement either work in a Third World country for a Third World salary or work here on a temporary visa for at least 20% less than whatever Paul earns--the same difference, on average, between American software engineers and their replacement workers. If it's an offshore worker, I suggest hiring more than one so that InformationWeek can double the output of a single Paul McDougall. Wanted: One writer willing to submit whatever large corporations desire. Fact-checking skills are optional. --R. Lawson

Second Life, New Opportunities

Companies are diving into the Second Life virtual world at accelerated rates. IBM and Sears are the latest to take up residence, building a store designed to help visitors visualize purchases planned for real-life homes. The question is, will Second Lifers welcome corporate America? --Alice LaPlante
informationweek.com/1120/blog_life.htm

I subscribed to Second Life and tried it for about two hours. I then realized that I enjoy the real world much, much more and requested a refund of my full subscription the next day. However, I submit that there are many people who will enjoy the virtual world. It's just another valid market for business, although there are many hurdles to success, not the least of which is technology. What Second Life needs to make the whole experience easier is better software that makes navigation and avatar development much easier than it is. I don't resent the corporate presence. It actually makes a very weird place a little less weird. --Steven M. Harding

New opportunities--succinctly put. Second Life is both a flexible forum for creative expression and a viable venue for business opportunity. Infusions of money and talent into it will foster further growth. The corporate world has many bright and ambitious people, often backed by deep financial pockets. These resources, and the additional public attention that accompanies them, could spawn in-world virtual development and real-world interaction on a huge scale--something that the users and developers of Second Life have been anticipating since its inception. I'm what might be considered old-guard Second Life, having used an avatar there since 2004, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next wave of change--and opportunity. --Chuck Staples

Please tell me, how does Second Life make my real life better? For that matter, please tell me how any technology makes my real life better. Technology doesn't make the human species smarter or better or happier. Often it's a diversion or substitute for dealing with real life. --Aliana

Why does every site become a potential market? Can there be a place on the Web people can go to enjoy the interaction, without being exploited by hackers, spies, or commercial venturers? Please be free to roam. --Lew