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>Programming is something that anybody can do with a very modest investment.

Yeah, but most people don't know that. Sure, us nerds figured it out, but most people are shocked that I learned to code at 13. I thought it wasn't that difficult. I don't think I'm smarter than most, I just wasn't scared off by the technical details.

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If you're not technical enough to type 'learn to program' into Google then I'm not sure how far you'll make it into a CS program. Back in the 80's and early 90's, sure it was a struggle. I remember reading out of date BASIC books trying to figure out how to load my code from floppies, now that was a bit of a headache.

These days you can be be learning to code using any number of slick web sites in about 5 minutes.

I tried learning programming quite a few times back in the '00s, but none of it really made sense until I took the intro to programming course in university.

I was too focused on my high school academics (and goofing off) to devote enough time to properly learn to program. Once software became a part of my academics, I found that I got much more better explanations of how things fundamentally work. I also finally had more time to practice.

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