s/Ruby on Rails/whatever buzzword or language you like/g
What’s the lesson in here for most of us? It’s that if you’re interested in value, beware scarcity. In markets where assets are scarce, prices go up and quality goes down. It’s one reason why you have to be careful when hiring Ruby on Rails developers. Right now there’s something of a bubble in terms of demand for Ruby on Rails skills. The best developers already have good jobs or are commanding a price premium, and there are a lot of other people out there claiming to be Ruby developers who don’t really have the skills. I think most companies would find more value finding good developers who don’t know Ruby on Rails and letting them get up to speed on the platform, rather than demanding Ruby on Rails right out of the box. [From The bubble pattern]
Back in the dotcom days (which Rafe references earlier in the piece), we had the same problem, but it was all about Java. Later it was python. But if someone understands Programming, from design to coding and iterative bug-smashing, they can apply those skills to other tools. This is one reason to look for CS grads (assuming those degrees are still worth anything) vs hobbyist/hackers whose knowledge is not as deep.