Keep in mind that I live in the country side and don't hang out with the likes of Patio11 ;-) I think he's seeing the best side of it. Where I live (in Japan,

Keep in mind that I live in the country side and don't hang out with the likes of Patio11 ;-) I think he's seeing the best side of it. Where I live (in Japan, if it isn't obvious), the programmers I know have no training in programming, let alone a degree or anything like that. One of my friends was a secretary at an insurance company. One day her boss walked up to her and said, "From today you are going to be a programmer" and that was that! I do also know a self taught free lancer who makes an absolute killing cleaning up problems in various companies. He does really short contracts (like 2-4 weeks) in Tokyo and Osaka. Then he comes back to Shizuoka and hangs out for a couple of weeks. So there is money to be made ;-)