It really is quite accessible now with online guides and videos. I think about an hour a day for 5 days took me from never having solved a cube to being able to solve any starting configuration in a little less than 3 minutes.
If like me you ever had a cube you never beat as a kid, it is definitely worth revisiting.
I now use the cube as a meditative practice. For 1-3 minutes, nothing in the world matters with the exception of solving the cube. Doesn't work well as a meditation tool when you start doing other cubes however, like the megminx. It just becomes a frustration device.
Holy cow, you've put into words what I've been thinking and practicing. Thank you.
We do it when we're on long phone calls. It sounds like a distraction, but I find it actually helps me focus. It's just turning cubes from rote memory, paying slight attention to where things need to go. It's far less distracting than picking up the phone and firing up Twitter.
(I was 39 when I learned, FWIW. Recommended to anybody.)