I recently had an email exchange with someone I met on here who made some statements that I found very disturbing. They said that they got ripped off a lot on DP, but they were transactions with Indians (as if that explains getting ripped off) ... I told him that I am Indian too and he said that he was talking about Indian people that are in India. I know that some people stereotype about people in India that are on DP on a lot a levels - if they don't think they are crooks, they think that they will work dirt cheap - I also see all kinds of posts in BST specifically in search of programmers in India - I have PM'd some of these posters just out of curiosity and learned that they said they wanted a programmer in India because they were on some kind of budget ... newsflash, there are people all over the world that will work cheap - not just Indians. Anyway, to address the issue of people getting ripped off on DP, I wanted it to be known that I have communicated with a lot of Indians on DP, and I have learned that there are a lot of Indian kids on DP that know how to do all kinds of things on the Web and they are earning extra money while sitting in school. Good for them - not saying that is bad. However, here in the US, I have done a lot of volunteer work with kids in the high school age range and there are a few things I learned about kids: they like to get into things that they are not supposed to be in, they like to cause trouble, and when they do, they find it amusing. Also, if you tell them not to do something, they will try all the harder to do what you told them they can't do. I think these attributes are fairly applicable worldwide. My point is that I would like for people to consider the possibility that they got ripped off by a kid that is bored before they generalize against a whole nation of people. I know that there are a lot of honest Indians in India selling services on DP, and many of the assumptions and generalizations I often hear are simply unfair. Anyway, that is my two cents ...
I think that the fact that there are a lot of indian web companies out there that advertise themselves as being indian, or offshore is because they're more affordable than other alternatives and so they like to label themselves in this way. I'm afraid that in this case, all you need is some statistics on the demographics and it'll tell the same story. However, despite the cheaper prices you still find that they do work harder and more honestly than most, which is also something that Indians are praised for. Personally, I don't really take much notice of where they come from - I assess their website, past work, and prices and base the decision on that. It has to be said though that for some reason I can almost always tell when a website has been made by one of these Indian design companies, there's just something about their designs that is slightly different - the colours and style. Finally ( no really, this is it ) I think that your statement about kids in both countries is definately true. The west and the USA live well, everything is easy and there are no lasting consequences for the actions for children, and it shows. Anyone who has seen 'Worlds strictest parents' (especially when a british teen went to india) will know where I'm coming from - but as with anything else, there's no generalising. Thanks!
The problem is that their prices are so cheap at times, it is hard to know if they are being realistic or not with their offers. I'd rather pay good money for quality work than less for an abundance of less quality.
I have worked for food in my days. It's good to be able to eat and I have been grateful. By the same token I've made thousands in as little as an hour. What's important is that we spend each day and cherish it as if it were our last because it may be. You never know?
I have come across all kinds of quality for all kinds of prices from all kinds of countries. I have paid a lot of money to Indians for poor week, not much money to Indians for Excellent work, had an Indian gentleman the other day do some technical programming work for me and all he asked for was a small donation AFTER he was finished (very honourable guy). I've also got a Nigerian friend in real life who is honest as they come, what he has to put up with is worse (everything guessing he may be a scammer) just because of his nationality! Matt