0 PhD or Not???? (pt.1)

On Sunday, Luis Von Ahn, a Professor of Computer Science wrote a blog entry in response to a Chronicle of Higher Education article that strongly recommends not going to graduate school in the humanities. I found the article particularly timely because I am debating whether to work or pursue a PhD program after graduation. The article shed some light on the realities of pursuing a PhD in Computer Science (vs other disciplines) and career opportunities after graduations. Essentially, I was left asking myself the following questions (being that I'm interested in a faculty/teaching position):

1. What type of lifestyle do I want to live in 10 - 15 years (after graduation, once I'm settled in my career)?
   
2. What type of lifestyle do CS Professors live? Do they have a life outside of work?
3. What are my career objectives? Is it just to teach? Or teach and do research?
4. Are people with PhD's in CS actually getting their desired job????
5. Since I don't attend a "Top 10" program ... what are my career options??
   

Let’s start with numbers. The number of people who graduate from “top 10” computer science programs every year is approximately 250. Conversely, the number of faculty positions that get filled at “top 50” research universities is about 25. That’s a ratio of about 10%, which doesn’t sound so bad (certainly not as bad as in the humanities), but there are two things that make the situation actually bad: (1) Notice that I took graduates from “top 10” programs and placed them in “top 50” programs, so this is not quite a fair comparison. The ratio becomes more like 4% if you count all graduates from “top 50” programs. At CMU, when we advertise a single faculty opening, we get approximately 500 applicants. That’s a success ratio of 0.2%. (2) The people who enroll in “top 10” computer science programs have already beaten the odds more than once. (From Luis von Ahn's blog)

I encourage you to read the article because I thought it was really thought provoking. I love computing, but the past 6 years (in school), I've been so overwhelmed with coursework, that it took that love away. I'm looking to rekindle that love ... do I accomplish this by pursuing a PhD or finding a job (now) that I love?

Interested in your thoughts (PLEASE POST COMMENTS :) then I will come back with part 2.