CS Degrees Low in 2007 But Bouncing Back

An anonymous reader writes “The number of undergraduate computer science degrees awarded last year hit a new low with the Class of 2007. The degrees awarded, 8,000, as tracked by the Computing Research Association, is only half of what it was five years ago. In 2003-04 — the high point of this decade — 14,185 students were awarded bachelors degrees in computer science from the 170 PhD granting universities tracked by the CRA. That said, after a decade of severe declines, the number of students at top universities declaring themselves as computer science majors is finally seeing an increase. Though it’s only a small increase, it’s an increase nonetheless. Experts attribute the shift to changes in job market, and also to changes in curriculum and the marketing of comp sci programs.”

“After you use the restroom, please enjoy a ride on one of our elevators.”

(taken at Rice University’s Duncan Hall)

But in the past couple of months, maybe because I’m cheap, I think I’ve discovered the second best thing for online shopping (and it’s not Amazon): Google Checkout. When I want to price shop something, I use Google’s shopping search engine (formerly known as Froogle, now listed in their menu bar under the header of “Shopping”), I filter the results to only show me merchants that support Google Checkout and I pretty quickly have not only the best deal on whatever I’m trying to buy, but 1) I trust that my money and credit card is safe and 2) checkout is really fast. In fact, Google’s checkout process is faster and more user friendly than Amazon’s. For example, if I change my credit card (which I often do depending on whether I’m buying something for the office or whether I’m buying something for home), I don’t separately have to change my billing address, as I do on amazon.com. And many times, on Amazon, when I change the credit card and billing address, it makes me enter my shipping address from scratch — I suspect Amazon does this when it encounters a combination of credit card, billing address, and shipping address that it hasn’t seen before.

What I want to see next? A touchscreen kiosk interface for my house that I can use to easily buy household supplies like lightbulbs, cleaning agents, shampoo, and other sundries. Who wants to go to the store to buy that stuff? And the only reason I ever end up going to the store to buy sundries is because at the moment that I realized that I needed to replenish something (which is normally at least once before I actually run out), there wasn’t a way for me to quickly satisfy that impulse.

I think there’s a big future in products that satisfy people’s impulses.

One store she took us to that I loved was Enchanted Toys (at 1179 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10028, Google Maps). It’s a store with nothing but handmade toys in it — mostly hand-carved and hand-painted toys made of wood. From their website:

“What you won’t find: a single plastic action figure or action figure.”

My sister bought this toy for my 3 yr old daughter that she hasn’t stopped playing with (I’ll upload a photo of it tonight — it’s hard to describe). I highly recommend this place for anyone looking for creative and engaging toys for children.

Update: Here’s one of the toys that we bought at Enchanted Toys — you put a marble in the top bucket and its weight tips the bucket the marble falls into the bucket below it and so on and so forth.

“I think that the television on the computer has not hit”

“Pretty much you want television in one place and that’s in your home”

“I think Apple’s going to more and more and more head us towards that Internet television”

(Credit to Dwight Silverman @ the Houston Chronicle’s Techblog for linking to these Woz videos)

I’m looking for an iPhone cradle that will fit my iPhone with the cover on. I want to put one on my desk at work and one on my bedside table at home. There are all types of iPhone cradles available out there (as shown above) but everything I’ve come across appears to be fitted exactly to a bare, cover-less iPhone. The only thing that I think *might* work is this cradle from Incipio:

But, as far as I can tell, this thing isn’t actually shipping (yet) and I haven’t gotten any response from emails sent to the company either.

Problem? Guys without aim and the ensuing mess.

Solution? Give ‘em something to point at. Fun (possibly) for the “user” and accomplishes an important goal (less mess in the bathroom).

Brilliant, I say.

1. Graduate from Harvard (lesser Ivies are okay, but let’s be realistic), where you were a key member of the Lampoon staff
2. Arrive in Hollywood with a spec script of the hot sitcom or drama from last season (this year that would be 30 Rock or Ugly Betty)
3. If you’re lucky, get hired as a Writer’s Assistant, or Production Assistant on a series
4. Spend the next five years working up the chain to finally get to be an actual writer
5. Once you’re actually allowed to write on a show, then you work your way up the producing chain, which is the same thing as being a writer, but you also get paid a lot more money.
6. After 5-7 years of working your way up to being an executive producer level type, you’ll be allowed to pitch networks your ideas for shows.
7. If the networks like your show, you’ll be paid to write a script.
8. If they like the script, they’ll shoot it and make it into a pilot.
9. If they like the pilot, they’ll order 12 more episodes.
10. If those first 12 episodes get an audience, they order 12 more.
11. If the season did well enough in the rating, or it’s a critical darling, it’ll get another season.
12. Repeat steps 6-12 until you’re 45, when people stop calling you anymore.

And his guess at the new model that will emerge:

1. A few creative people decide to make a show
2. The show hopefully garners attention from the YouTubes of the world
3. A production company comes in and helps give the show consistency and makes some money through ad sales and merchandising
4. Network licenses the show once it proves that it’s gained an audience

Yup, that’s almost exactly what a friend of mine and I talked about earlier this month.