I think that you are all missing one very important point.

Arduino and the Pi, have brought into our world a whole demographic of new users, ranging from Chefs to gardeners including artists and clothing designers.

the ease of use and the fact that they can reuse code without having to learn has opened the door

I see the downside, but I also think its great that a 60 year old lady gardener not too far from me, has built her own temp and humidity monitor for her green house. Never wrote a line of code, but built it from a Pi and a then looked at Arduino.

we never saw that from PIC basic of any flavor.

its a good thing to bring in new people from new areas. It reflects the real world fact that electronics now penetrates all areas of our lives. It is no longer a niche area for geeks like me , hobbyists and seasoned professionals ( like me also). personally I think its great that we are seeing these new entrants, even though they are learning the ropes Backwards. By that I mean they buy a Pi, they load someone elses code and make a project, then it sparks their interest and they learn a little electronics.

I dont care how they learn, just so long as it sparks interest and they begin on the road to becoming an electronics hobbyist.

Just think about it, she is 60 years old ( maybe older) she knows no electronics, but she is now one of us !