It's a little scary how many new technology folks don't really have that much experience with systems. Not the programmers necessarily, but the "visionaries." Needless to say, it's not an absolute statement, but a trend -- it's the late 90's/early 00's equivalent of the early 90's "my cousin's son 'knows computers' so let's hire him to manage our network" syndrome.

Actually, I know three people who would consider themselves to be "new technologists" who have been recently laid off and are now having a LOT of trouble finding work. All three have asked me to help find them management positions in IT departments, but, to be honest, I can't honestly recommend them to anyone I know. Two or three years experience managing html designers and graphic art contracts at a floundering business with no purpose doesn't really qualify one to run the web services department at Citibank. They are really shocked when I explain that the jobs and salaries they are looking for usually require four times their experience and a much firmer foundation in database design and/or network topology. "But I know how to write drop down menus in Java. Stuff like that. And I know Photoshop pretty well...."

The next year or two will be really interesting in that respect, if the dot-com collapse continues.