I thought you'd enjoy this. A few years ago I stopped reading Wired. Last year, I picked up a copy and was happy to see that attitude less pervasive. I know many of the items were tongue in cheek, however with one I take great exception. The plain fact is that computers are ubiquitous and that they are being thrust into the hands of millions of phobic and unskilled users.
Most jobs interact with computers.
Design metaphors, amongst other performance-centered elements, enable the majority of users to make sense of software. Intuit understands this point very well. In my opinion the reason why TurboTax and Quicken sell so well is their outstanding use of metaphors. Every once in a while I read about how natural selection will weed out computer phobes so power users can rule the world. I think this logic is backward.