Thanks Steve for yet another link to a very interesting article.

Years ago, computer shops divided responsibilities. You had systems analysts and business analysts. They drew up the plans, the 'programmers' implemented the plans. In this model, only the analysts really needed to know the business. If the programmers understood the business, great. If not, no big deal. The programmers needed to do things like write in binary; something usually only understood by math majors.

Today, we have 'software developers'; people who know it all. The number of jobs for pure analysts has been decreasing for a long time now. Hence, developers need to be people who understand business. The number of computer jobs that require high-level math, or even deep understanding of computer circuitry are few and diminishing. If it's possible to draw up a spec and pass it on to someone who doesn't understand your business, there are hoards of overseas consultants waiting to implement designs for a fraction of the pay that Americans want.

The previous posts about education have it right. Kids in high school play with high-level functions on computers like Lego robotics, simple animation, and other things that anybody could learn by reading a book in the "Dummies" series. Because they hang around with computers, they're branded as geniuses. They get to college in a STEM degree program though and get difficult math and engineering courses thrown at them - There they either lose interest or just don't make the grade. That's why the line share of IT jobs are filled with people whose minds understand business principles more than by people who understand differing theories of how memory should be managed on the processor chip.