I agree with this characterization. Zig is trying to directly replace the niche that C represents, in terms of exactly this tradeoff. So if Zig is successful,

I agree with this characterization. Zig is trying to directly replace the niche that C represents, in terms of exactly this tradeoff. So if Zig is successful, in 4 years the title of this post would have been "Should you learn C/Zig to 'learn how the computer works'?" and in 8 years the title would have been "Should you learn Zig to 'learn how the computer works'?". :-)