"In fact I doubt most "coders" of today could do something simple for an Apple I, even given modern resources (like a ASM compiler)."

It's not a fair comparison.

Coders today don't have to drop to assembly or solder or wire-wrap or burn EPROMS. But it is something that many engineers and hobbyist did back in the day. (Myself included...)(And most commuters today don't have to harness horses up to go to work...)

But given time, I bet Woz or a few of us could teach someone interesting enough assembly to do something useful.