Do the cons of computer science make it a bad field to go into?

Average programmers are not systems programers. A typical company only needs a few systems programmers. The Indians, Chinese, Russians, etc. can always undercut your price, but have the problem that they are 12 hours away by time zone and do not always grasp American English. A programmer needs to keep up with both the old languages and the new ones. The jobs to maintain legacy systems are few and far between. Eg, one guy left on the staff for the old stuff, conversion to newer products, etc. People over 50 who expect to get a W-2 job that pays $75K-$100K a year programming legacy code are dreaming. 1099-Misc won't have benefits and is paid when the work is needed.

1) Some jobs are being outsource overseas. But the results are mixed. We sent programs to india to be written. When we got the programs back, they all had to be reworked. Don't know if it was a communications problem. Or just inexperienced coders over there. 2) The field is changing, but the older programmers adapt. I learned cobol in the 70's. And there are still millions of these programs around. And you can always learn new technologies. I am (or have) learned Unix. 3) It's harder over 50, but not impossible. But everyone over 50 finds it more difficult & not just those in the IT field. Just work hard & be willing to learn new technologies.