SQL Server neighborhood can keep earning a living for the backend side but IMHO it's important for app developers to recognize where things are going." This is another example of a false dichotomy.
The entire SQL BI stack includes Reporting Services, PerformancePoint Server, SharePoint, Excel Services, and PowerPivot. Several of these have both client-side and server-side components. Even in Analysis Services, there is focus on the presentation of OLAP components to end users, the presentation of drillthrough actions....
Many SQL professionals these days are expected to know many or all of these tools. I know this because I've worked in environments with such requirements, and I speak with recruiters (both headhunters and internal recruiters) regularly who communicate their needs. I know this because I've seen technical screening tests that companies are using. Aside from perhaps DBA roles, many database professional positions these days are fair game for both client and server-side requirements....and this "back-end, front-end" thinking is rather fusty. :)
On the mobile age push, if a general statement can be made, it's that the platform supplements (and derives from) existing technologies, more than anything else. So one has to stop and wonder which is the dog and which is the wagging tail.
Sure, being able to access a SharePoint site on a phone or an iPad when out of the office is a great thing. But for a large # of users, it's a step backwards compared with what they can do now. Charles hit the nail on the head on that one.
This "those who cling to .NET as it becomes less relevant in the new mobile age", coupled with some of your earlier comments, almost sounds like Victim A (a Fox developer) wishfully telling Bully B (.NET) that Party C (Android, etc.) will make Bully B realize what it's like to be a "victim".
For the record, I have zero clue on how much Microsoft will influence mobile development with WP7. JB seems to think they're still time for MS to be a big player (if I undertstand his views correctly). He's closer to it than I am, since he's a Win Mobile MVP. My own personal two cents is one of skepticism, where anything beyond hedging bets seems a bit risky. I still don't think I believe some of the numbers quoted by the competition - and yes, even shareholders can be given wrong numbers. Look what's happening to Samsung with their first tablet. (Maybe they had a bad back-end database for storing these stats, haha).
But regardless, even the worst case scenario HARDLY makes .NET less and less relevant over the next few years. If there's any clinging, it might be to a hope that someday, something will come along and eat all of .NET's lunch.
As I said before, mobile development is just one area of growth in this industry. In many ways, the industry scales differently than it did 10-15 years ago.
But in one way, maybe it hasn't. Here's some food for thought: to put this in some historical context, there were corporate executives pushing developers hard for solutions using the Palm OS back in 2000-2001 when some of the early smartphones came into play. I saw that pressure first-hand, in the same way you described corp. execs pushing for it now. That was 10 years ago. So playing devil's advocate, one could really conclude that mobile development should be MUCH further along than it is. One explanation for why it hasn't, is the very nature of mobile development: #1: for a considerable body of people, it falls somewhere between "luxury" and "nice to have". For others, it supplements or enhances their computing needs. #2...the very form factor of devices themselves. William K. said it perfectly in his post on this topic.
So in looking back, one could argue that mobile development has been "perpetually nascent".
I own an iPad and I own one of the best smartphones around (HTC Evo). They're great....they've enhanced/supplemented both my work and non-work activities. Keyword: supplemented. I'm not looking down on mobile development. I agree, it's a force. It's also a force with some dynamics (I hate that word, but can't think of a better one) that are misunderstood and sometimes even self-defeating.
On Sqlite, I never said it wasn't being used. What I did say, and will say again, is that even its own champions acknowledge it is very "hacky".
