system archeologist

technology is moving at an incredible rate, we all know that. things we thought we'd be ok with for a while has suddenly turned into yesterday's news.. just take the introduction of .NET as a quality example - everything turned .NET over night, and it was the new hype everyone wanted to master and everyone even said they did. In reality we all know people that still think we'd be better off without .NET, and there will always be people like that. People that strive to prevent changes instead of embracing them. People that take one step back when the path is right there before them. This is the same for other changes, like .NET 1.1 to 2.0, and now 3.0. While the fact that these people exist today and most likely will exist in the future as well is a known fact, the technologies will continue to evolve and introduce new ways of thinking. During the last decade the evolution of code and technologies has been incredible, so just imagine the coming decade.. For these reasons, and more, I think there will be more accepted roles coming our way, and one (maybe the most important one of all) will be the System Archeologist. The System Archeologist will know how 'old' code can interact with 'new' code, how 'old' systems can communicate with 'new' systems and how 'old' architecture relates to 'new' architecture. Perhaps they will be the Architects of today, or maybe they will spring from a totally different source, who knows? This thought kept me up last night, i just couldn't shake it, 'cause the more i think about it the clearer it becomes. Today we embrace the evolution of software 'cause it moves us forward and the bridges aren't yet that many to cross - but what about our children and the number of technologies available to them when they grow old? I'm intrigued, in a conspiracy-theory kinda way.. P.