The programming/ literacy analogy is something I thought to have come up with, although rom a different angle. Computers are so prevalent in our societies, that the knowledge how to handle them puts those that have it in a similar position as scribes in a time where literacy was not common. Programmig also is one of the skills that aren't that useful in themselves, but tend to make everything else much easier, just like reading and writing, which are fun as such but become something else when used to conserve and share knowledge.