Assuming most people are web developers here.
When you are young, you get into a profession (hopefully) assuming it can only grow. Hopefully you are not near-sited, and you make a judgement call that may effect the rest of your life, depending on your dedication level.
For example. My father is a welder. He got into the trade during the late 70s early 80s (yeah my dad’s old). During that time in america, we were an industrialized nation. Factories were being built every day. Power plants, waste treatment facilities, fabrication factories, and so on.
Of course by the time he was born, several metal trades had come and all-but gone. Blacksmiths is one example. (Ever meet a blacksmith that doesn’t work at a renaissance fair)? Silversmiths another. But he was fairly confident that as long as he stayed educated and progressed with the times he would always have a job.
Now we know that not to necessarily be true. We are no longer a producing country for the most part, but a consumer country, or a maintenance country as some people call it. Large facilities springing up in every which way is a thing of past. Who knew?
And as the work becomes sparse in a given trade, the competition becomes more and more well… competitive.
Again using welding as an example.
With the progression of robotics and engineering, more and more welding work is being done by machines. The need for welders is shrinking. There will always be a human aspect, but as i stated competition for work is becoming more fierce.
Everyone gets into a trade hoping it will never disapate, but sometimes your lifes work becomes less-needed than it was before. Sometimes it’s not needed at all anymore.
Can you see the need for web developers being dissipated?
Some of you may say “that’s ridiculous, there will always need-be developers for things like database design, SEO, optimization ETC”. But try not to be neer-sited here.
I imagine WYIWYG editors becoming so advanced one day (and actually adhearing to some kind of standards lol) that developers are less needed. Some day maybe you’ll be able to design a system of databases by simply connecting visual elements on screen and editing a few variables. There are even more possabilities.
Thoughts?
