> Remember the effort us lifers put into making tools that allowed "the masses" access to programming, like BASIC, Visual Basic, Turbo Pascal and all of that? H

> Remember the effort us lifers put into making tools that allowed "the masses" access to programming, like BASIC, Visual Basic, Turbo Pascal and all of that? How can we now, with any credibility, bemoan the very future so many of us tried to build? I don't think the current situation is the result of that. From where I stand, the history seems pretty clear: 1) Nerdy people like me get into a field because something about it tickles their fancy. 2) They happen to invent stuff that solves important problems or improves life in some way. 3) Eventually, non-nerdy or semi-nerdy people notice this, get into the mix and get rich as a result. 4) People at large start noticing this. The field becomes more and more lucrative and popular, until it turns into an industry. 5) The industry now attracts not only talented, passionate people, but all sorts of other people too: people who want to get rich quick, people who want to get famous, people who are in it because it was a popular choice when they had to pick a career, etc. You'll notice that the inflection point in this story was #3, when some people got rich. The "culprit", therefore, is not making tools that allowed "the masses" access to programming; it's capitalism.