[blowfish]

It may not be flipping burgers, but one of the problems about contemplating the Next Big Thing is that everyone just assumes it will spawn from the head of a programmer.

Like I said, it might be a revolutionary new form of grocery bagging.

After all, the "internet" was certainly the Next Big Thing, but the real economic benefits came from the creative people who figured out how to use it to make money.

Now this comment is so far from reality that I just have to laugh.

Take Amazon, for instance. You think their success is just due to some managers scheduling meetings and pushing buttons in some VisualBasic application? You know how many software engineers have pulled allnighters and given up weekends to make Amazon succeed? You think Amazon could have just contracted that all 'unnecessary' technical stuff to Bangladesh?
And at what point do the now booming technology industries in India and China realize that they've reached critical mass, where they have all the skilled workers and sharp minds they need to be the source of the innovations as well?

[Mr. Bird]

No, what I'm saying is that all indications are that the technological expertise needed to make Amazon move is becoming commodified. And as long as people in IT keep doing their jobs, they will continue to commodify themselves.

I recently purchased software that will cost my business $20,000 a year. And because of it, 2 of our techies making around $40k will be looking for work. Where's the brotherhood of techies? They've been putting non-IT people out of work for years, and now they're doing it to themselves. It's progress.