Apart from the obvious disillusionment and realisation that a corporate career is often equivalent to a corporate shafting, maybe another factor is that you nee

Apart from the obvious disillusionment and realisation that a corporate career is often equivalent to a corporate shafting, maybe another factor is that you need less money nowadays to enjoy your leisure time. For example, one reason I was excited to work in computing was access to expensive equipment and systems which I couldn't afford to buy myself. Now, I have half a dozen computers in my house and can pick up another system unit for <$100 on eBay. The availability of cheap hardware and broadband access means you can do anything from collaborating on software, to "meeting" people online, to playing WoW and other games. For tech-savvy people, their sense of identity and self-worth is probably more bound up in those things than who they supposedly are at work.