I think the rise in CS at Stanford is due to a confluence of several factors, not any single one thing:
* The Social Network & The Death of Steve Jobs (capitalized for a reason) & The Rise of Elon Musk, Mr. PayPal-Tesla-SpaceX & the other software billionaires doing exciting things getting media coverage
* the software/startup "bubble" -- the perception of it anyway; the crazy big acquisitions of young one soft-product companies with low/no revenue and only 1-3 years old, etc.
* crappy job market right now for 18 year olds, or even a twenty-something graduate with a non-STEM degree
* iOS & Android app development, the tutorials, how easy it appears you can make money at it. iPhones as a gateway drug leading in that direction for some percentage of it's more ambitious users. Rise of Apple in general and the Mac, an additional vector leading in this direction.
* the recent rise in online "courses" by Stanford, etc.
* the high pay and perceived higher job security of this field, at least right now
* more serious people (or those with smart advisors) who sense the future trend of greater software automation, mobile apps, robots, drones, embedded logic, etc.
It's probably a mix of the above, different for each person. All adds up.
* The Social Network & The Death of Steve Jobs (capitalized for a reason) & The Rise of Elon Musk, Mr. PayPal-Tesla-SpaceX & the other software billionaires doing exciting things getting media coverage
* the software/startup "bubble" -- the perception of it anyway; the crazy big acquisitions of young one soft-product companies with low/no revenue and only 1-3 years old, etc.
* crappy job market right now for 18 year olds, or even a twenty-something graduate with a non-STEM degree
* iOS & Android app development, the tutorials, how easy it appears you can make money at it. iPhones as a gateway drug leading in that direction for some percentage of it's more ambitious users. Rise of Apple in general and the Mac, an additional vector leading in this direction.
* the recent rise in online "courses" by Stanford, etc.
* the high pay and perceived higher job security of this field, at least right now
* more serious people (or those with smart advisors) who sense the future trend of greater software automation, mobile apps, robots, drones, embedded logic, etc.
It's probably a mix of the above, different for each person. All adds up.