| Just IMHO. It seems that the article should a little less categorical. The typesetting example shows that instruments have changed (typesetting machines(or whatever it called?) to desktop computers), but it still exists - there're many people very skilled in typography these days. And many of them still have jobs in design companies, newspapers (online ones too), etc. I'm not very familiar with that industry, but I've seem many employed people doing typography full-time (on computers, of course). The ramifications you're talking about in case of programming seem to be already here pretty much. But they don't mean the end of programming. They just mean that libraries would be developing and much of stuff that can be automated - would be, but you still need to go low sometimes. Take a look at Yahoo Pipes - that's a very high level of "programming", i.e. - take that, transform, output. But still, there aren't many people using it, because more often than not it's: "take that, BUT ...." and that means that you need to go lower INTO the library. The best libraries let you automate the MOST COMMON tasks, but none of the libraries or programming languages available is the ultimate solution supposed to cancel programming. Just like invention of computers didn't obsolete typography, it was just transformed (the instruments changed). Someday we (programmers) will be obsolete, but it wouldn't be because of better types or transformations (pointed out in the article), it would be because somebody develops some kind of "brain-in-a-jar" that can transform natural language commands into acceptable electrical currents. (Or whatever kind of energy we would be harnessing at that point). I.e. "get me some coffee" and the coffeemachine turns on and wheeliebot starts moving; "when I say curse word - deduct 5$ from my banking account" and bank's "brain-in-a-jar" "understands" command from your home's "brain-in-a-jar". But seeing that isn't going to happen in at least next 5 years, I feel safe :) (5 years, because they recently started growing organs in jars.. who knows when it's simple enough to grow brains in jars). But my guess is that will make a lot of jobs obsolete. And market competition would get fierce! |