As a counter-point, all these companies might eventually lose the goodwill of the programmers by exercising too tight a control -- and having very specific tooling where knowledge can't be transferred to other jobs -- and they could find themselves starved for quality hires.
Imagine if the average programmer needs 5 highly specialized laptops to improve their job prospects -- not many will do that even when they have the money.
I mean, until it gets to that point the big companies might not care anymore, sure.
But general-purpose computing is very far from dead or even dying. What we seem to be heading towards is more like a huge divide and a segmentation that might last decades.
"Imagine if the average programmer needs 5 highly specialized laptops to improve their job prospects -- not many will do that even when they have the money."
This may also mean that the average programmer will be stuck with a concrete platform, because the cost of migration would be too high.
There is a similar situation in a different highly qualified field - airline pilots. If you are a pilot and want to change to another airline, you lose all your seniority and begin at the bottom of the ladder, even if you are an experienced captain with a lot of miles under your belt. [0]
What we both said is not mutually exclusive. Both are correct IMO.
Sadly the users don't have much choice nowadays, and I am not saying this to gloat (being a programmer) but more like a lament -- in some areas there are far too few choices (either very expensive or just not that good) and in many others the choice is so big that it might as well not exist because you can't make an informed decision in a reasonable time frame.
Yep, it seems that things are going in that direction. But I do wonder if it will stay that way because way too many programmers nowadays take job hopping for their birthright.
I am personally semi-okay with a strong specialization and several big areas -- IMO it's about time for that because way too many colleagues bite more than they can chew (me included) on a regular basis.
If these trends pave the way for programmer formal certification I'd support that as well.
Imagine if the average programmer needs 5 highly specialized laptops to improve their job prospects -- not many will do that even when they have the money.
I mean, until it gets to that point the big companies might not care anymore, sure.
But general-purpose computing is very far from dead or even dying. What we seem to be heading towards is more like a huge divide and a segmentation that might last decades.