This is my 2 cents worth, I have been in IT line for nearly 9 years.
I got the grades to go in (AAA/B). But my parents telling me that IT no jobs, no life, and have to constantly update skill, etc.
If you think IT line is the only line that require you to upgrade your skill, then I'm afraid either you or your parents are incorrect. No matter which line you are in, you will always need to upgrade yourself. In time to come, you will be old, your skill set will be easily surpassed by younger generations with more vibrancy and more recent skill sets and more up to date knowledge, as you get older, you will naturally demand for higher pay. So in contrast, unless your skill set is so niche that no one can take over, and your experience is so niche that no one can replace, then you can continue to survive.
A good company will not let such things happen. Redundancies and constantly nurturing good employees to replace existing one should be on the priority of any good companies business roadmap. The only reason you in 30 years time can continue to survive with no upgrade in your knowledge and skill sets is likely because you are in a lousy company that doesn't know how to plan for its business.
At the faster and faster pace lifestyle we are having today and tomorrow, your parents' mentally are basically outdated. In their time, their way of life works, but in your time, things are going to be radically different. So don't fall into the pithole thinking that only IT require update in knowledge and skill sets constantly. Even museums today are using state of the art technologies to preserve the ancient artefacts and to promote museum using 3D scanning technologies to bring in more visitors and hence revenues.
And friends tell me it's for foreigners, lousier than CS, not much jc ppl... So I have my doubts now. I read the FAQs and other threads already, not sure if I should go if I'll be disadvantaged by FT/poly ppl who have programming experience (I only know stuff like html, just starting with web apps while I have time in ns)
CS are for people interested in hardcore stuffs, solving scientific problems and interested to push oneself knowledge along the technological track. IS are for people that want to get involved in business relevant to technologies, business and/or project management roles and so forth.
Imagine in a battle, can the soliders win the war without a commander forming strategies ? Likewise, technology is a business enablement skill set. Without businesses, technologies have little space for advancement. Technologies are built out of necessity. You will realise most of the use cases of technologies have commercial values. If you study IS, your objective should be knowing now to monetize technologies in businesses. Hence there is nothing less capable about IS. People whom say so are ignorant of what is the role of technology playing in the enterprise world.
People whom are expert in programming doesn't necessary make good businessman nor good marketing or sales personnel or even presales personnel. All these 3 important role in business require people whom understand technologies. They need to know who are the players in each verticals, they need to know where is the direction of tomorrow technologies. Do you think a professor reading or writing thesis everyday will know all these information ? Therefore don't look down on IS graduates, they are just as important as CS graduates in the whole IT ecosystem.
I want to learn IT and some money skills, surely I can make some difference down the road since IT seems to be getting more important for sg right?
And do IS ppl do interesting side projects, in nus hackers or sth?
IT is important EVERYWHERE not just Singapore. Do you know how much money today technology business help to generate ? If the world want to go faster, scale larger, do you think labours will make it so ? The world need automation, innovation, reaching out to the outer space and into the ground, all these are from technologies, not just using bare hands.
If you know the way around these, you will get your money. It's not easy money, definitely. Easy money come fast and goes fast.
Go and figure out what you want to do, not which faculty you need to be in. Either way, there is no hard and fast rule on how a person entering IS or CS may end up be. It's all up to you.
unless u are really interested in computing dont come here..
