Comment Re:You know what would REALLY motivate kids? (Score 1) 208
I think you missed the previous poster's point. "Programming" is a way in which a task can be automated. As such, it can be viewed as a tool. If someone can come up with a way to get things automated without writing a program, then the tool called "programming" is no longer required.
Almost anything can be viewed as a tool. It was the previous poster's insistence that programming is not a profession, and the comparison of it to a hammer, that led me to refute his statements.
Every job can be automated. Every single job. Some programming jobs will be automated in the future, although usually when tools like compilers take away certain programming tasks it only makes development more affordable so even more programmers are hired. Programming, like most careers which require critical thought, will likely be among the last jobs to be fully automated away.
Programming as we know it will almost undoubtedly change significantly over the coming decades. Programming 50 years ago will probably be more foreign than using punch cards is now. But until strong AI becomes a reality we will still need people to design future applications.