I think his message goes further than that. Coding is like a new literacy. It's application isn't just in creating software, but getting things done in a digital age.
Coding is nothing like literacy. You don't have to be able to code in order to live in a modern society but you have to be able to read and write. There is no, or very little, point for the majority of people to learn how to code.
It is like the new literacy; in that it allows people to participate in society at a level they would not otherwise be able to. More precisely, it's the new numeracy; in that it gives a serious advantage in many fields to be able to deal with tasks and entities in a quantitative manner.
At present there are many areas where it is still possible to "get by" without at least a basic understanding of computing. But those days are drawing to a close; most new manufacturing jobs require basic coding skills because all of the work is happening on CNC mills. It may be possible to be a real estate agent without knowing more about digital technology than how to look things up on an ipad; but even in that field people who know and understand the limitations and capabilities of the data management systems they deal with have a serious and undeniable advantage.
Will the jobs of the future be built around coding? No more than the jobs of the present are built around reading. It will be an essential skill that one is expected to have as a matter of course.
You are thinking in the wrong framework. Before sophisticated audible language, drawing and hand symbols were the norm. At the point it could easily been argued literacy was a luxury or niche item reserved for academics and what not. Coding is positioned to be the same, not being able to control machines fluently without needing a midldeman will both be expensive and socially crippling if technology continues the way it is.
Moral: If you dont have a back to the basket post game like Chris Bosh, learn to code basketball joke
The point is exactly to make coding the new literacy. Not coding as in "we should train every kid to become a software developer one day", but coding as in understanding how machines work, how you can break a bigger complex problem into smaller chunks, and how you can think analytically and use technology to solve problems and make new things.
The learn to code part is just the journey, the instrument that will (hopefully) lead the newer generations to a better future. In that sense, it's just like literacy. It's not just about the words; it's about unlocking new worlds through reading.
I'm working on this problem, and I strongly agree that in the relatively near future, coding will be as wide spread (and about as easy) as using a spreadsheet is today, and has been for the last 35 years.
But it won't look like what we're calling "coding" today—even though it is. :)
Unfortunately, the following is the best my Google-fu can turn up right now. I'd like to give you a link to the blog entry I once read by a professor who was actually working at a UK university when they started imposing market discipline with students as customers.
> You entirely undervalue the social context of objects, including objets d'art.
A lot of people might value something because it goes against the grain of social and cultural context. Those things might be more interesting or provoke different thoughts or perspectives.
If upvotes were public (or at least available to you when logged in), it could just trawl HN's history at some set interval (one year past?) and feed you anything you upvoted that day.
edit: or rather, a few intervals to allow for reposts even after that year period
