[LINK] Young Aussies losing ground in digital economy

[Jim Birch]

I don't get this idea that everyone should be coding an app.  It's a
specialized area with limited opportunities.

It's a textbook case of survivor bias: people see a cool Zuckerberg story
and assume the narrative can be replicated, ad infinitum. Not so, that
particular niche is occupied, mastered and defended.

In addition, it misses the economics of software.  Unlike plumbing,
software has a low, or zero, marginal production cost per user.  This kind
of market won't support lots of small suppliers.

It would be much more productive to teach people how to evaluate, customise
and use IT services.  This skill is much more likely to provide
employment.  That, or plumbing.

Jim