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I will start off to make a daring analogy between an artist and a web developer. In a world of conglomerates and where money plays such a bigger role than it used to be, is there still room for independent artists/developers to make a living?

I keep asking myself, is there still room for me on the internet as a developer? I mean, everything now is packaged into neat boxes readily available for the end user. There's no more need for developers such as myself to develop websites when there are Content Management Systems readily available on most servers; with a click of a mouse you virtually have things like Word Press, PHP Nuke, and PHP BB to name a few. Also, there are those outsourcing companies who offer web services that wage price wars between competitors which generally makes it bad for the developer, since most outsourced developers come from third world countries who are happy to just receive less than 50% of what the client is actually paying.

The next logically step for the lone developer would either to apply in a big company, most probably an outsourcing company or a call center. But if he/she is really good, he/she would develop a concept, make it earn money then sell it to yet another company... but that is like winning the lottery, since really good ideas are few and far between. If ever the lone developer actually gets a job to develop something, the price for his services would be unsubstantial, that he'd be hardly motivated to do a good job. This is where plagiarism comes to play. Yes, I know it is a personal choice. That lack of financial rewards for small developers contribute to the slowly dwindling new blood that is needed by the industry, which is similar to piracy, wherein the music industry is primarily taking a big blow. Artists don't get properly compensated for their hard work, hence fewer artists are motivated much less inspired to practice their craft because there is no financial future in it. And in our society today, money may not be everything, but it's probably the only thing.

Will there still be a market for independent developers? Speaking from a financial point of view, I personally think it is grim, for the simple reasons that primarily you can't argue with free software. Second, you have to deal with those outsourcing companies as a competitor. And finally, let's not forget the price wars. Almost everything now is massed produced, where convenience and the price tags are the primary considerations.

With an optimistic perspective, maybe I'd make it big on the net, but I wonder if the industry will still have room for independent developers who are next in line..