While the best programmers definitely have that knowledge, most programming jobs don't require that anymore. It's like saying that in order to be a secretary yo

While the best programmers definitely have that knowledge, most programming jobs don't require that anymore. It's like saying that in order to be a secretary you need to know how to replace a typewriter ribbon. Most applications aren't written on the machine level, nor do they have the complexity that requires machine level knowledge. Embedded systems programming is, at this point, a separate disciple than generic software engineering. The only regular exception I see to this is the poor curriculum around most Java oriented BS programs. I've seen many candidates come from a Java focused school that couldn't even write their own code without a full hand-holding IDE.