I'm a self-taught programmer also, as many others have mentioned. I believe a CS degree can certainly be a launching point for people passionate about programming and computers. I actually did a year of CS before switching to a humanities degree. Part of it was I got a little scared off by some of the complex algorithms that came in the second year and I didn't have a good foundation. I ended up teaching myself PHP and VB.net.

In my profession, I ended up becoming a "technology guru", including some development. But as the only developer I never have had anyone else to lean on for expertise or support.

I think that for a self-taught programmer, having (good) mentors is probably a far more effective way to learn real-world development skills than a CS degree. I feel, for myself, that I would thrive in a development team where I could learn for co-workers and receive criticism and correction for my work.

Without that outside influence, it's hard to know if what I'm doing is really the best or even a good way of doing it.

I think every developer needs a mentor, and that's what I feel I missing most.

(P.S. Does anyone out there want to be my mentor? I am looking for a technical co-founder for a startup idea I'm working on)