I laughed at this because it's so true... yet I still use ORMs gleefully so I can remain in my pathetic little comfort zone when the queries get especially complex. (Although ironically, my particular ORM of choice tends to fall apart when queries get complex, and you have to do clumsy iterations etc. Also after viewing this presentation I start to wonder how many of the built-in optimizations are being countermanded/ruined by the ORM.)