SK> Some have said that most users of computers do not need any knowledge 
SK> of
SK> programming. Others have said that programmers are in very high 
SK> demand.
SK> At the AP Computer Science workshop I attend last week, which was
SK> located in the "Silicon Valley" in the San Jose area, discussion 
SK> about
SK> programming jobs came up one day at lunch. Several of the attending
SK> teacher-participants had picked up newspapers and looked at the want
SK> ads, and were floored by the number of jobs available for 
SK> programmers.
    It probably depends enormously on what _region_ of the country you're 
speaking about.  For regions where manufacturing is dominated by high-tech 
companies, what you said is probably true for now.  But it is not true in 
regions where manufacturing is dominated by smokestack firms and other large 
employers are just end-users of computers and software.
SK> Sounds to me like kids with the good fortune to get set on the
SK> programming path will have a job waiting for them?
    Depends a _lot_ on where they live, and on what the U.S. economy is like 
in (no less than) 6 years when they graduate from college.  
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