It turns out that pretty much any time you have code that interacts with the world outside computers, you end up doing DSP. Graphics processing algorithms are DSP; software-defined radio is DSP; music synthesis is DSP; Kalman filters for position estimation is DSP; PID controllers for thermostats or motor control are DSP; converting sonar echoes into images is DSP; electrocardiogram analysis is DSP; high-frequency trading is DSP (though most of the linear theory is not useful there). So if you're interested in programming and also interested in graphics, sound, communication, or other things outside of computers, you will appreciate having studied DSP.
It turns out that pretty much any time you have code that interacts with the world outside computers, you end up doing DSP. Graphics processing algorithms are DSP; software-defined radio is DSP; music synthesis is DSP; Kalman filters for position estimation is DSP; PID controllers for thermostats or motor control are DSP; converting sonar echoes into images is DSP; electrocardiogram analysis is DSP; high-frequency trading is DSP (though most of the linear theory is not useful there). So if you're interested in programming and also interested in graphics, sound, communication, or other things outside of computers, you will appreciate having studied DSP.