I used to ask job applicants for a network-oriented programming position to explain how IP packets were delivered between machines: first on a LAN, and then on

I used to ask job applicants for a network-oriented programming position to explain how IP packets were delivered between machines: first on a LAN, and then on a WAN. The vast majority had no idea what went on beneath the BSD sockets API. Similarly, asking developers roughly how computation occurs (memory, cache, registers, instruction sets, etc) typically drew answers well into the comical spectrum. Yes, I think our education of engineers is failing them miserably.