I was reading that the ARM chips support Big and Little endian. Is this selected by the OS or by the firmware? Also does this make a difference for compiled software, such as a binary for a Linux application?
It depends on which ARM... Older armv4, you could load a BE or LE kernel (your userland would have to match the kernel)... For newer versions, you're mostly stuck with LE.
To me it just doesn't make logical sense to have a $50/hour doctor doing appendectomies when a $25/hour tech could do the job just as well.
what are you smoking? there's a damn good reason you don't have people with a bachelor's degree doing surgery! (nurses make $25-$30/hour) there are so many things that can go wrong, so many complications, so many drug interactions and allergies...
your example only holds if the technician is working on a live circuit where people DIE if he messes up!
He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion