The titles and the career track matter because that's how you get to have real impact and that's how your pay goes up. If you don't want to be thrown a spec and

The titles and the career track matter because that's how you get to have real impact and that's how your pay goes up. If you don't want to be thrown a spec and told to just implement it we need more developers who have better job titles and who can play the political game well. If you're a dev you're more likely to have to bow to pressure from marketing or other departments and won't have any real impact.