I think the author is projecting a bit. After all, the skills needed to write an opinion piece for Wired are darn near universal, and supply has exceeded demand

I think the author is projecting a bit. After all, the skills needed to write an opinion piece for Wired are darn near universal, and supply has exceeded demand by so much for so long that such writing is practically blue-collar. I contend that the skills needed to make a career out of programming are just a little less accessible or familiar to most people. Being a programmer might be comparable to being a plumber or electrician, which are "blue collar" but also very respectable and often profitable professions worth aspiring to, but it's never going to be like the kind of unskilled labor that people line up at Home Depot - or Wired - to do.