Does Greed Influence the Computer Industry?
IEEE Computer, Vol. 33, No. 4, p. 4, April 2000 Does a professional engineering society exist to help practicing engineers fulfill their technical and social responsibilities? Or is the role of such a society identification of the next marketing opportunity for corporations? To me, an engineer must be concerned with developing useful, usable, reliable products. If such products make a fortune for the entity that markets them and, perhaps, for the engineer, that is perfectly fine. However, I see that the engineering process is increasingly presented in reverse order: Identify the floating dollars first and then think of some product or service to help win those dollars. Dont worry if the product doesnt fulfill any real need; marketing will take care of that. This seems to be the main message, for example, in Ted Lewiss February Binary Critic column (Tracking the Anywhere, Anytime Inflection Point, pp. 136, 134-135), where he notes: Once wired, mobile consumers offer endless moneymaking
