I'm always surprised by the concern this question raises. Is Computer Science dead? No, of course not. Does everyone who works in IT need it? Of course not.

Alright, let's look back about 100 years. In design and development of an engine for a vehicle, you need to be an engineer.

Now, is your local mechanic cleaning your carberateur an engineer? No, no he's not. In some places he got taught this instead of finishing his high school degree. He's the mechanic. He can drop in a new engine, hook it to the driveshaft, and understands enough about how the designs generally work to figure out if he's dealing with a timing or a spark plug problem.

Then he consults a manual, written by the engineers, about what to do about it. He might even plug into the computer and find out what that has to offer if it's ODB2.

Do we still need mechanical engineers? Well, of course we do, we're still designing new technology and including it into the older designs. Hybrid fuels, electrical/gasoline switches, the works.

The guy working on my car doesn't have to know the front load weight of the bolt that holds down the alternator, he just needs to use an equivalent one when he swaps out the one that broke.

For cars, we're the users.

For databases, almost all of us are mechanics of varying abilties.

I'm Craig Farrell, and I'm proud to be a Database Mechanic.