<i>That grind work can be done much cheaper (and probably more reliably) by a dedicated tester.</i><p>I won't dispute that, as that is a major reason why companies love testers.<p>The problem is that while the testing is done cheaper and perhaps better, that's not really the goal of the whole process now, is it?<p>The goal of the process is to match the product to the customers expectation/need. I submit that the best possible way to do this is to have programmers that are also managing that need, even if it is more expensive and/or less efficient when view specifically.