There was a semi-deliberate effort to reshape ideas about programming in the 60s and 70s, as awareness of its coming importance was rising. The most infamous of

There was a semi-deliberate effort to reshape ideas about programming in the 60s and 70s, as awareness of its coming importance was rising. The most infamous of these changes was, of course, the shift from the perception of programming being simple clerical work for female secretaries to prestigious knowledge work for men diverted from math and physics academia. There was also, however, a shift from the perception of programming being a highly collaborative (and soft skill-sensitive) administrative and professional process, to one where a lone genius or small group of whiz kids in fly-by-night circumstances (garages, rented office space, etc.) drove productivity and innovation. Tin foil hat time: I'd wager that this was itself driven by the rise of the microcomputer and the coming-of-age of people whose first experiences programming were on the home PC, instead of in a college course or on-the-job. This would be during a time where computing skills were discounted if not maligned; there may have developed a sort of culture of reactionary pride (and the sensitivity to rejection and humiliation that accompanies passionate, personal investment in an identity) as a result, without the controls of business etiquette.