PROGRAMMING : Extinction

I've been half-joking since my first job that, by the time 2005 comes I (as a programmer) will be a blue collar worker. Well 2005 is quickly approaching and it hasn't happened yet, but an interesting article (part1, part2, part3) proposes that it's even worse than I imagined... that rather than becoming blue collar, programming will essential become extinct altogether.
While I agree in some part with what he is saying, the article is fairly poorly written. Unfortunately the author insists on using obfuscated language, and referring to other peoples ideas on things in point form without, in my mind, adequate explanation. The lack of clarity thereby imparted makes the article less convincing than it might otherwise be.