I agree on the spare time facet, but I feel my life is improved beyond professionally by such research.  I pick up economic, psychological, and scientific knowledge that I don't think many get exposed to for an extended period of time.  As an aside, the educational portion really is the way things should be in society - you prove yourself for a job rather than buying a degree.<p>Edit: CS is lucrative at the high levels and the average of 60k can be plenty to transition to being an entrepreneur.