That said, I'm trying to get into Rails and Ruby and I'm in a similar boat as the friends you described. At work I'm a FileMaker developer, which might sound like amateur hour to the HN community. I'm very well aware of FileMakers shortcomings, but it also works quite well for our little non-tech company, which is why there is no immediate need to learn more advanced languages. Add to that outside my day job, I'm a musician/producer - this is a hobby as well as an occational source of income, but it takes time and there's only so much left when I get back home, which caused my drive to keep learning to behave more like an on/off relationship.
Nevertheless I try to hang on to it. Having experience with developer tools as well as audio production software and hardware, I have to agree with you - people interested in programing have everything they need readily available. Sure, it got a lot easier for musicians too, but usually a decent DAW, plugins or audio interfaces and monitors still require a financial investment, which certainly helps to remind you about your original goals. Meanwhile frameworks, editors and documentation are mostly free - combined with limited time and a lack of concrete need for your new knowledge, it can be tough.