Certainly, there are boring dead end jobs in the software dev world, just as there are in almost any field. However, there are lots of companies, big and small, developing interesting, complex and new applications requiring a high level of intelligence and education. Perhaps the author is just looking in the wrong places. I can say, at my company, my software dev team gives high marks for the quality of their work experiences. They are well paid doing diverse work that is constantly challenging.

Don't get me started on the value of "90 day wonder" programmers fresh from some abbreviated boot camp. Want to do a simple web app with such talent? Maybe. Anything complex you are going to bang into the gaps in their skills from lack of a disciplined, hard work education. Some folks can make a living at boot camp programming (maybe even a good living) but if you want to be highly marketable in a competitive market, buckle down and do the work to get a real degree.