I think the problem here on slashdot is that everyone is looking at a CS degree as an end in itself - it's not. I have a B.S. and an M.S. in computer science.
The smartest programmers don't stay programmers.
This is what everyone is missing.
The smartest people with CS degrees move to where the "dumber" (technology-wise) people are - the business side.
Consider the dilemma: You are an engineer coding away and you make 50-80k / year in the bay area, perhaps more if you are a lead developer.
Well, a starting Sales Engineer or Product Manager makes over 100k, and with commissions, the SE can top out at 150k or more.
Further, when you walk over to the business side with a CS degree, you are treated like a God because you know the technology COLD.
The fact of the matter is almost every position on the "revenue generating" side of a company makes a crapload more dough than pure engineering.
You can still code on the weekends.
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I think the problem here on slashdot is that everyone is looking at a CS degree as an end in itself - it's not. I have a B.S. and an M.S. in computer science. The smartest programmers don't stay programmers. This is what everyone is missing. The smartest people with CS degrees move to where the "dumber" (technology-wise) people are - the business side. Consider the dilemma: You are an engineer coding away and you make 50-80k / year in the bay area, perhaps more if you are a lead developer. Well, a starting Sales Engineer or Product Manager makes over 100k, and with commissions, the SE can top out at 150k or more. Further, when you walk over to the business side with a CS degree, you are treated like a God because you know the technology COLD. The fact of the matter is almost every position on the "revenue generating" side of a company makes a crapload more dough than pure engineering. You can still code on the weekends.