Probably no HNer's are surprised at the variance in programmer prices. What's interesting about this article is that for people outside the Hacker culture, this

Probably no HNer's are surprised at the variance in programmer prices. What's interesting about this article is that for people outside the Hacker culture, this is a genuine, puzzling question. It goes to show that we've got quite a way to go before programming is well-understood among the general populace.