Rushkoff's algorithm

Douglas Rushkoff make the following claim in his algorithm:

In each new era, masses acquire capability of previous one.
Text leads to to a society of 'hearers' read to by priests.
Computer leads to a society of 'bloggers' using interfaces programmed for them.

If algorithm holds, masses, will acquire programming skill only after corporations develop capability to assimilate their programs.

I find it completely preposterous that Rushkoff thinks programmers are the new high priests who hold the keys to power.

Yes being able to program computers to do new things is a new skill that is very powerful. But it isn't more powerful than the written word and other means for people to express their creativity.

There are programmers who don't know how to write well, to create beautiful imagery (this skill doesn't even appear in his "algorithm"), or imagine new services that people find useful.

And above all the power of programming is not confined to big corporations that control people.

Quite the contrary actually! Computer technology and software is so cheap that the price is heading towards zero. Open source software is being created and given away for free by thousands of programmers all over the world.

There has never been a time in our lives when it was so easy for anyone to reach out to an audience of millions without having to go through the gatekeepers of yore.

This is true for practically all areas of human creativity: writing, imagery, programming, music, video, etc.