Hackers vs CarrierIQ

Did “hackers” lose their edge in CarrierIQ case? So maybe stop labeling good engineers as “hackers”?

For the past year I was watching the rise of “hacker” label applied to software engineers. First time I saw it on StackOverflow/YC job boards it amused me. Today it still strikes me that companies would use this word to attract “exceptional” developers. But this post is not about it. Here’s the issues:

• How in hell did we have CarrierIQ installed on our mobile phones for YEARS and none of those “hackers” could track it down?

I’m sure it was not a secret and certain people knew but it takes a certain critical mass for the media to pick something up. But what happened to all those people who used to sniff traffic with Ethereal all night long? So why don’t we stop this lingo and start calling people properly. If you hack someones computer – you are called a “hacker”, if you code well – you are a “good engineer”

p.s. Maybe there are almost no “exceptional” individuals left in networking area since the hype mobed to Mobile/Social/Design?