[vgoh1]

This article makes me feel a little better about my life decisions. I started programming at age 12, but as my major I chose mechanical engineering because at the time, there was a lot of talk about the US software industry crashing and it all going to India.

I'm not going to try to portray mechanical engineering as all roses - the pay is a bit lower, and the chances of becoming a break-out rock start are much lower (think of the capital investment needed to build your own business). But the work weeks are a true 40 hours for at least 90% of weeks in most places, the work is much more varied (office, shop, lab, travel), and mechanical engineers with grey hair don't seem to have problems finding a job.

[vonseel]

but as my major I chose mechanical engineering because at the time, there was a lot of talk about the US software industry crashing and it all going to India.

I was in college 07-11. When I later asked my dad "WTF why did I not study CS?" he told me pretty much verbatim what you said... we thought it was going to India. I wonder if you were a student around the same time period? In retrospect, things quickly changed around 2012 coming out of the recession, and I suspect the industry had been picking up steam for a while after a few generations of iPhones and mobile gaining early traction.