Could you elaborate on that (I know nothing about the Indian education)? I was under the impression that the IITs were good. Would you disagree with that? Or is it that there is a couple of schools which are good but the rest is so-so.
The IITs take a bunch of smart people in. These are people who have the necessary drive, intelligence to succeed in any environment. That doesn't necessarily mean the institute itself is good or something.
As far as the rest of education system, my experience was that rote memorizing was encouraged and people were not necessarily taught how to think or even encouraged how to think. I dunno, maybe it is a cultural thing but I didn't like it.
Blackberry has done a good job. It may not be iPhone/Android killer but it is definitely at par with the best in the league. Had BB come up with this 2 years back it would have been great. But I am willing to give them a chance. I hope the voice and screen sharing works good.
> They acknowledged the problem and did everything they could to develop it.
Well, it seems like they half-assed it the first few times, like the Torch. I'm glad they decided to really do it right and not keep dancing around things.
They came out with a much stronger showing that I expected. There may be hope for them left, and it's always good to have another player to poke at Android and iOS.
I dont want Google and Apple to know where I walk, drive and with whom I speak. They already know what I do on my computer and what mails I write. Dont want them to know a more about me.
Instead of just saying "degree" it might be more sensible to white-list certain universities alone based on their reputation. These names can be published every year.
That still makes me a little nervous, though it would be an improvement.
Part of my problem with this is that I think a day of reckoning needs to come for higher education in STEM fields, and the sooner the better. PhD programs have atrociously high attrition rates and extremely long completion times compared to the professions, and MS programs are often a neglected stepchild. Employment prospects according to a RAND study[1] are surprisingly bad for such a challenging career path.
Americans are already shunning these programs, and I think this is a good thing to the extent that it will force the PhD programs to adapt and become more attractive (perhaps by following a professional school model, with far lower attrition rates and much more predictable and shorter completion times).
The problem is, PhD programs benefit enormously from the low cost labor of graduate students, and they don't want to adapt. One way they've avoided adapting is by tapping into international students who need their degree to gain admission into the United States. People who already have US residency may not bother, but people who don't have it yet will put up with all kinds of crap.
It's a strange situation. Should people who get a PhD from a top US institution be allowed to stay in the US? Hell yes! Should PhD programs be trusted with the power to bestow US residency on students? Hell no.
