Judging by the negative/indignant comments, I think the title was unfortunate. Reading the article, though, I don't see the OP advising people to do anything ac

Judging by the negative/indignant comments, I think the title was unfortunate. Reading the article, though, I don't see the OP advising people to do anything actually degrading or unethical. Perhaps he should have clarified that only the programmer-employee part of you is the product (at least where your employer is concerned). I have a slightly different perspective, which is that rather than you being the product, your skills and time are the product, for which you are the vendor.