There's a tremendous amount of software that doesn't require the best talent to write. Maybe it's a website, or a device driver, or whatever. Similar software

There's a tremendous amount of software that doesn't require the best talent to write. Maybe it's a website, or a device driver, or whatever. Similar software artifacts have been created hundreds or thousands of times, but someone still has to write it in order to have a product to sell. The programmers don't need to be the best out there, or even particularly creative. They do need to be competent and sufficiently knowledgeable in their area, but that's it. Those developers are easily replaced. They have to be, since so many of the better ones tend to leave. Those jobs will tend not to be very much fun or very well compensated, as long as there's a ready supply of programmers willing to do the work, and the corporations doing the hiring regard software development as an expense that cuts into the budget for more important things, like dividends and stock buybacks.