I used this analogy myself the other day, and it's how I often explain software development to people who have been led to believe that computers are some deep

I used this analogy myself the other day, and it's how I often explain software development to people who have been led to believe that computers are some deep mystery that could never be understood by the common man. However there is one important difference between software developers and car mechanics, and that is that our work is in cyberspace so it can be effortlessly duplicated and sold a million times over. Car mechanics operate in meatspace, so in order to get paid they need to keep on fixing cars. A software developer could fix just one virtual car and then keep earning money forever thanks to intellectual property laws. It doesn't seem like equal pay for equal work. Thinking about it this way has led me to become more skeptical of intellectual property laws. Software development isn't especially more difficult than any other skill, but we are disproportionately rewarded for it due arbitrary legal constructs. It seems like the industry has a vested interest in giving the impression that what we do is impossibly complicated. If more people realized the truth, there might be a stronger call to abolish or at least reduce the terms of copyright, patents and so on.