Hm, I agree that there's a lot scattered out there, but I hope that there's some room for exploration (and maybe specialization) somewhere in the noise.
I actually have an interesting perspective on this, being completely self-taught, before returning to university as an adult to get a computer science degree.
There are pros and cons to both sides of the self-taught vs. teacher-taught thing, though I'll make my bias clear up front: I spent a lot of years reading books and messing around with stuff; now, when I hear college students complain that a teacher "isn't a clear lecturer" or "didn't answer my question well," my tendency is to say "there's a book and an Internet out there, suck it up and get to studying, buddy," though I realize that attitude isn't perfect for everyone.
I actually have an interesting perspective on this, being completely self-taught, before returning to university as an adult to get a computer science degree.
There are pros and cons to both sides of the self-taught vs. teacher-taught thing, though I'll make my bias clear up front: I spent a lot of years reading books and messing around with stuff; now, when I hear college students complain that a teacher "isn't a clear lecturer" or "didn't answer my question well," my tendency is to say "there's a book and an Internet out there, suck it up and get to studying, buddy," though I realize that attitude isn't perfect for everyone.