Ask HN: Are (web) developers now a commodity?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=908602

by kungfooey • 17 years ago

6 5 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I've had two people tell me this in as many days.

* Are they?

* If so, why?

* If not, then why is there this perception and how can it be changed?

kaveri• 17 years ago

Probably from some idiot MBA. Now there's a commodity.

va_coder• 17 years ago

People have been saying techies are a dime a dozen for years.

Do you try to put yourself in your customer's shoes and help solve problems? Does your customer know you do this?

If the answer is yes, you're not a commodity.

ScottWhigham• 17 years ago

The proof that they aren't is the fact that all web dev is not outsourced to the cheapest company.

teeja• 17 years ago

From the ads I see on Craig's, the parade of "requirements" they're looking for vis-a-vis the money they're paying, I'd say yes. It looks like too many of the troops have sold themselves cheap ... (and that too many potential employers want a lot for almost nothing).

arghnoname• 17 years ago

I got my first web dev job after two weeks of reading some PHP books and coding up an application to help my girlfriend of the time keep track of some stuff for her business.

I sucked, but I got a job (making poor wages of course) and it didn't take too long to get past the median and (I think) into the higher percentiles of PHP talent.

I'm not that smart so my easy entry into the field has always had me disconcerted and I've made a concerted effort to dive into parts of development that are more difficult or require greater rigor. So much web development really is just playing ferry for the database, and the frameworks are just making this easier.

This might all be a good thing for a certain class of problems that these frameworks solve, but if you make your living making dynamic forms or whatnot, I'd consider diversifying and picking up more skills.

There will always be a class of problems on the web that are truly difficult and require real, uncommon expertise. A much larger portion of the work on the web will be increasingly easy to complete for lesser trained or qualified people, with much thanks to those who improve tools and technology for their benefit.

Ask HN: Are (web) developers now a commodity?

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