"It takes longer. The quality is poor. And the "total failure" rate is very, very high, on the order of 80+% "
But it's cheaper ! And cheaper is the mantra these days.
Remember LOW LOW Price....
Right, and so would be using McDonalds to cater your wedding!
Some people panic, and lose faith in America and Americans, *so easily* these days . . .
American developers *are* better than the off-shore ones. By a long shot. I see it every single day. I can give a lot of reasons -- I'd point first to the level of 'creative thinking' required, and how our culture emphasizes individualism (despite what the D party would like to sell the American people). And how their cultures actually discourage individual creative thinking.
You get what you pay for. It's as if so many people don't believe in the market, and think there is a free lunch. Well there isn't.
Off-shore labor is cheaper because no one is willing to pay them more. No one is willing to pay them more because they're not as good. If they *were* as good as on-shore help, they'd be charging what we charge. But since that's the market, they charge only what the market will bear. And in fact, we're finding in project after project that even at the low, low rates they're charging they're over-priced.
It's that simple.
What it boils down to is that far, far too many folks are down on the American people -- even *here* on FR. They've thrown their hands up in the air, and cried, "American's can't compete!"
How sad.