I agree completely. I became a pro dev 31 years ago when I had passion, and while I don't regret my career choice, my passion has waned, especially for dev (coding ways & means). I could never have survived this long in this business without passion in what I do -- even if it's no longer a passion for programming.
I've also witnessed most/all of the points David offered, esp the ceiling in job growth and the tiresomeness of learning the latest fashion in coding that does the same old thing, just in a more complicated way.
My own solution has been to turn away from development as an end unto itself and to get more involved in the problem space du jour (social network analysis, data mining, image analysis, medical biomarker resolution, etc). This doesn't address either of the woes I echoed, but at least it motivates me better than fantasizing about category theory while I feed yet another database while sitting in my cube.
I've also witnessed most/all of the points David offered, esp the ceiling in job growth and the tiresomeness of learning the latest fashion in coding that does the same old thing, just in a more complicated way.
My own solution has been to turn away from development as an end unto itself and to get more involved in the problem space du jour (social network analysis, data mining, image analysis, medical biomarker resolution, etc). This doesn't address either of the woes I echoed, but at least it motivates me better than fantasizing about category theory while I feed yet another database while sitting in my cube.