I agree with Cal that we basically don’t know what happens next. But I do know that the world needs a lot more good software and expanding the scope of what good software professionals can do for companies is positive.
I agree with Cal that we basically don’t know what happens next. But I do know that the world needs a lot more good software and expanding the scope of what good software professionals can do for companies is positive.
10 years ago, I was building WordPress websites for motivational speakers. Today, I build web apps for the government. Certainly in 10 years we will be in a different place than we are today.
Your argument, taken in a broader sense, would have us tending to corn fields by hand to avoid a machine taking our job.
Getting back to Cal's point, I think there's a lot of legitimate questions and uncertainties about what knowledge work will look like over the next decade. You say that technology will remove jobs...and I think you're right directionally, but I can't tell you the timeline for that, nor it's effects.
While I love being a software engineer, what that actually looks like on a daily basis has materially changed _a lot_ every few years. Sitting for a day debugging why my SCSS won't render is not the core value I bring to this world as a human.
To play off another analogy commonly used in this topic: you are the horse, not the rider. Sure some horses will find new work, at the grace of their owners. Some lucky individuals may even get a carefree life of mostly leisure.
But for many, it’s off to the glue factory, and not for a job.
Some of us weren't that lucky and always had to stay creative, even when we lacked resources that privileged 1st world people had.
It's a shift. Exciting and also, yes, dangerous one, but the if you focus on being able to produce true value you are bound to be able to make a living out of it. Whether you're employed by someone or create a company yourself.
Find something you love and be scared at times, but don't let it stop you and you'll succeed.