On one hand I'm completely with you that acting like programming is "an echo of a different world" is just romanticizing a past that never existed, but I can't

On one hand I'm completely with you that acting like programming is "an echo of a different world" is just romanticizing a past that never existed, but I can't help but feel there is some (and only some) truth to it. A car is a means of transportation, the fact that you can tweak the engine is tangential to its function, a computer is useful because, and not in spite, of its universality. There isn't any logical way of using a computer that isn't programming, but ironically, it's often a mere afterthought in commercial products. To continue the obligatory car analogy, writing complex software in a full development environment is the equivalent of tweaking the engine. It's a job for professionals and I don't expect the average user to be able to do it. But writing a simple script for the system interpreter that wires premade components is more like changing your oil or changing a tire, it's really baffling that most people can't do it.