I've done it. When we get a dusting of light powder and the pavement isn't warm enough to melt the base layer, it's totally fair game for blowing. As long as I'm using a warm battery that's been in the house, the blower makes quick work of it.
Why not just leave it? If you can drive through it, it's fine. I love it when there's a solid base layer of snow or ice. The roads and yard don't turn into slush every time the sun comes out, and shoveling is easier when I don't have to be careful about picking up a load of gravel with the snow. The first big snowfall is always the worst for this reason.
In this case a stiff-bristled 24" push broom works quite well and is cheap, easy and quiet if your driveway isn't too long.
Maybe they'd heard of a snow blower, and thought it was basically the same thing.
I think they had basically no experience with snow removal and tried to "improvise" a solution. There were plenty of people who cracked their windshields by following the meme advice "boil water and pour it over your winshield to de-ice it quickly. Meanwhile northerners know you have to scrape it. It is clever but wrong as an approach.
Boiling water would be a huge risk, yes. On the other hand, cool/tepid water can make things a lot easier.