[SoftwareMaven]

I came from that same time, and I think you are partially right. I think a self-perpetuating cycle has occurred where people know less about sql, so they use it less, so they know less about it.

But I also think that people don't like the boilerplate that comes with direct sql access. I think they don't like the impedance that comes in reading and understanding code. And I think they want to hand off annoying, but critical, things like caching to a lower level they don't have to think about.

SQL is an important tool, and any developer, especially one who is using a framework like Django or Rails, would be wise to learn it, but ORMs still have value and it isn't all about "I don't know sql".