I suspect there's some truth to it, mixed in with the type of pulp fiction you identify. For instance, consider the structural changes induced by the whole "cl

I suspect there's some truth to it, mixed in with the type of pulp fiction you identify. For instance, consider the structural changes induced by the whole "cloud" phenomenon. In what is termed "legacy" infrastructure by the "cloud-minded", there is, classically, a whole caste (no pun intended) of operations and sysadmin people with a skill set of "installing servers", "keeping servers running", deploying software packages, applying patches, etc. A large stampede to cloud really does reduce a lot of this mundane but relatively skilled labour, in theory--it's one of the main selling points: lay off 80% of your sysadmin because the infrastructure mostly runs itself! To the extent that it doesn't, focus your operations efforts with a much smaller, leaner team of Cloud Rock Star Ninjas or whatever. And "mundane but relatively skilled" is, as I understand it, the preferred area for classical Indian offshoring companies' labour arbitrage plays, since it's perceived to be the ideal target range, rightly or wrongly, for outsourcing by developed-world executives. Then there's all the company that "cloud" has kept, whether conceptually or as a matter of timely coincidence, e.g. the slow fading of the distinction Corporate America makes between Operations and Engineering.